what do you do?

in "the wealth of nations" adam smith uses the manufacturing of pins to illustrate how division of labor makes induistrial production more efficient...each operation in the process being done by one laborer..and in "democracy in america" alexis de tocquville agreed it was more efficient but wondered about the impact on the laborer asking "what can one expect of a man who has spent twenty years of his life putting the heads on pins"...a question of mind numbing deskilling and one that could lead to the opinion of that gibbering elitist edmund burke when he said "the occupation of hairdresser or of a working tallow chandler cannot be a matter of honor to any person to say nothing of other, more sevile, employments."...so how is it that there is a fair segment of the polity that makes judgements on the intrinsic worth of individuals based on how they earn a living? admittedly in what they call a clulture here, the question of what do you want to be when you grow up

( i aplogize for the quality of this graphic...it was the best i could manage ) creates the model for that judgement from an early age...and, for some, play is no escape...

i have driven a truck, worked in industrial manufacturing for decades, and now hold what passes for a retirement "job" in recieving for a "major retailer"...is that the ultimate measure of my worth? i am also a parent and a grandparent and i hold 156 succcesfully completed undergraduate hours...there must be some merit in that...isn't there more to all of us beyond "what we do"? okay, humans like to compare themselves to others to see how they stack up...there has to be a better graduation than occupation/net worth...what is that actually a measure of? i have to think it is basically an index of how much we can acquire in the way of material goods...how deep we can dive into the consumerist sump...i am unaware of your circumstances, but i already have more "stuff" than i can use between now and when i shuffle off this mortal coil...beyond, possibly, food i don't need anymore...that is a matter of complete indifference to capital...need or not it is sure to come...and at whose expense? another can of ethical worms slithering about...what i "do" is central to my ability to consume...and as far as the hegemons are concerned that is half of my reason tio exist...the other half is to work and create "added value" that can be siphoned off as profit through stock portfolios and tax evasion by the above hegemons...they have a distinct interest in focusing my attention on what i "do" from an early age ...they want you to ponder it deeply as well...to compare yourself...to strive for more "stuff"...they reap most of the wealth from that and it has been that way, on one level of consumption or another, through most of recorded history...i don't know about you, but i am "stuffed".

it's 2023...isn't it?

depends...contingency ( there's that word again...inescapable ) is at work here...all you need to do is look at time zones to realize clock time is an arbitrary system of both command and control ( what time is it and when do i have to be at work? ) and an effort to give a framework to the experienced elasticity of time..."time flies when you're having fun" and boredom is a defense against toxic social situations...either way, time is not consitent in its passing...calendars are not fo much more use...it's not even christmas yet in the julian calnedar and new years isn't for another thirteen days..although it will be 2023 on the fourteenth...it's the year 230 in the french revolutionary ( which i am told is actually a misnomer ) calendar and new years was on the twenty-second of this past september...on the eighteenth of july ( the first of muharram ) the islamic claendar turned over to the year 1444 while the jewish calendar made it to the year 5783 on rosh hashanah ( the twenty fifth of this past september )...so who actually knows what year it is or how quickly...or slowly ( or an admixture of the two ) whatever year you choose to believe it is will pass? time isn't really very well defined...commerce runs on clock time...nature on event time ( a version of time far more closely related to reality...ask my asparagus )...and when i assert chronal autonomy it passes in a variety of ways ( usually quickly )...whatever your year is here's hoping it is a better one than the last and that you get, at least, some measure of equanimity and some of what you fancy...however you view it your alotted time isn't getting any longer.