As a former employee in the retail industry, I worked my share of Labor Days (and other "holidays"), especially in my last decade and a half of full time work at the PLCB as our new collective bargaining agreements reduced the number of paid days off, and in the last few years of semi-retirement at our local grocery store. The good news is that I was often paid double time, meaning paid for the hours I worked plus paid for the holiday. The sad part, of course, is the lost time with family and friends, or the rush to get to a holiday party after working, and the lessened energy that one might arrive with.
I did, in fact, work yesterday, Labor Day 2026, for a little over 6 hours, but straight time, now that I am a part time employee. Fortunately, there was enough time in the afternoon and early evening to enjoy a visit from two of my best friends from youth.
I have posted on Labor Day twice in the past. Here are links to those two efforts.
https://wurdsfromtheburbs.blogspot.com/2014/09/happy-labor-day.html
https://wurdsfromtheburbs.blogspot.com/2011/09/happy-labor-day.html
After reading them again this morning, it is clear that any hope I expressed about our society moving away from expecting 24/7 service meaning stores and services available 365 days a year, was misplaced. It is only getting worse, even to the point that I don't think the majority of Americans even consider the fact that some people, many, many people, work on holidays.
When I wrote those two posts, the prospect of AI taking many jobs from humans, especially service jobs, was not on my mind, not part of the everyday conversation. If we continue to pretend, or forget, that holidays should equate to time off from work, then it will be no surprise when those jobs are taken by robots, entities that do not require days off, or health care for that matter.
If one hundred years from now the concept of Labor Day is but a cute relic of the past, because no one labors any more, those jobs having been relegated to robots and other forms of automation, will that be a utopia or dystopia future?
In one of the above posts, I mention a conversation I had with my son as I drove him back to college. It was about taking pride in one's job and whether we have working for the weekend was a mantra that was bad for our culture, as well as our soul. If the majority of people get little or no pleasure from their work, there will be no pushback as those jobs are taken over by automation.
Worse, if jobs that actually do provide most of those involved some type of personal satisfaction are also turned over to robots and AI, jobs like teaching, health care, childcare, perhaps even those which employ engineers, lawyers and other professions that require advanced degrees, will that also be accepted without a fight, without questioning what kind of work is suitable for humans?
Again, a lifetime without work; utopia or dystopia?
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In the last few days, a post I wrote in July of 2019 called Winning At All Costs, has been "hit" an inordinate number of times. I read it this morning our of curiosity as I couldn't recall the specifics of it. As occurs at times, when I read something I wrote in the past, I was impressed with its content. It begins with a quote from Iris Murdoch. Here it is, not by link, but word for word.
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A quote from Iris Murdoch (from an edition of Lapham's Quarterly)
"One of the secrets of a happy life is continuous small treats."
I have mentioned before that we tend to consider the times of our lives, the years between our birth and death, but most specifically those years when we are most conscious of the significance of events which surround us, as the most important years in history. Our egos insist on it. I imagine there has been a multitude of conversations about the historical nature of "today", whether those various debates occurred among Greeks unaware they lived at the beginning of the years we know as AD, peasants of the 9th century, tradesman of the 16th century, or World War 2 veterans who escaped death in Europe or the Pacific.
One might even argue that anyone born in the first 2 decades of the 20th century, and who survived for most of that century, was witness to the most diverse and dramatic changes which have occurred in human history. Should similarly seismic advances in technology, communication and travel occur in the next 70 years, how unrecognizable everyday life will be for those who walk the planet in 2095 as compared to today.
What draws me to Lapham's Quarterly, is that the topics explored, as often reflect the similarity of perception over the ages, as the differences, despite the profound alterations of how life is conducted via technology, etc.
I began thinking about this post intent on discussing how winning at all costs seems to have infected the thinking of our culture, but perhaps that in itself is just another reflection of how we believe we live in the most (fill in the blank) time in history.
If continuous small treats can produce a happy life, then perhaps winning at all costs is one method of accomplishing that result, as long as we always look forward to the next "win" and not reflect on the cost of any particular win, such as winning by cheating. As flawed humans, we have all cheated at times, perhaps to gain a better grade, a better job, a better sexual experience. For some, this kind of shortcut to happiness eventually reveals itself as a mirage, producing less satisfying results over time. For those who never learn this lesson, more intense experiences are required, sometimes producing the kind of addictive behavior which we see manifested in our opioid crisis, our polarized politics, our seemingly endless dissatisfaction with what we have which leads us to crave things we don't need.
I have often heard people deride "participation" trophies as an indicator that we are getting soft, that needing constant reassurance and reward is bad. If only winning matters, then trophies for 2nd, 3rd, even last, seem ridiculous.
But what if competing, improving your skills, learning to function as a member of a team, and understanding that cooperation is the best formula for success is what playing is all about? Then perhaps participation trophies aren't rewarding mediocrity, but are rewarding and recognizing the importance of the intangible lessons of team activities. After all, the vast majority of our children who join local teams, will never be paid professionals, but will all (hopefully) contribute to society as parents, employees, coworkers, and perhaps even fellow volunteers, if they have truly learned the lessons of teamwork.
I have not read any of Iris Murdoch's works. I know she was a British novelist and philosopher, born in Ireland, educated in England. (Oddly, and I did not know this until I researched her a bit), Murdoch was influenced by Simone Weil, someone whose works I have commented upon in past posts. I would like to think that Murdoch would not have recommended constant winning as a source of continuous small treats, but might have touted a rearrangement of one's perception of the definition of small treats.
When I was hitchhiking in my youth, I used food as a source of small treats/rewards, setting my goal for each day's travels, then eating a small meal once I had arrived at that location. I still use food as a small treat, sometimes even a simple egg sandwich on the way to work. Of course, the best small treats are those that do not require money. Things like:
The silvery look of the tree branches after the first overnight snow.
The sun dipping just over the horizon, especially over water, and the colors of the sky which it leaves behind.
A lonely white cloud in an endless sky of blue.
A puppy bounding to the door when you arrive home.
The look of virtually any young child when you smile or wave at them.
A walk on a tree lined path, and the feeling of sun on your face when you emerge from its shade, then the coolness of the shade when you return to its protection from the glaring heat of the day.
Singing in the car, at full throat, as you drive, and seeing others do the same, especially when they stop in mid-song when they notice you hear them.
Winning at all costs is not just about the basketball player who looks to the sky every time he is called for a foul, but complains bitterly after every shot, claiming he has been fouled. It is not just about aligning your self with the politician who will make sure your bank account grows, even though that growth hurts those not in agreement, or who look, worship, or love differently from you. And it is not just about seeking dirt on your political opponent from foreign agents.
Winning at all costs is a mindset that subordinates everything else to achieve a result, regardless of consequences to anyone who might stand in your way, or who become a victim as a result of your success.
And, with its cousin, "winning isn't everything, it is the only thing", they combine to create a society in which the strong are allowed to take advantage of the weak, the powerful are allowed to pervert the rule of law, and the advantaged are allowed to take even more from the less advantaged, even while they equate their fortune as divinely blessed while those with less must be less deserving, even less loved by the Creator.
And then there are those who claim victory even when they have lost, so tenuous is their grip on their self worth and self esteem.
My advice. Seek small treats, especially those that do not require money, and lose every once in a while, graciously.
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Can you imagine getting such advice, specifically that last part, from the current resident of the White House?
It seems so easy to me to see the signs of our national decline, not just from the antics of DJT, not just from the odious laws being passed to justify cruelty, and not just from the obscene amounts of money that a few individuals have amassed but because far too many Americans are OK with all that is happening, perhaps even support it, or sadly, have accepted that they cannot change the inevitability of the consequences that are imminent.
Rather than analyzing the winning that I mention in the title of this post, they accept any fool's definition, even when that definition claims we are winning a war (that is not a war depending on the day of the week) when the costs of everyday energy use are much higher than they were before the war.
I started this part of the post with the words of Iris Murdock who claimed that
"One of the secrets of a happy life is continuous small treats."
Would it be so bad if we redefined winning in that manner as well?
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