I saw a thought-provoking post on cyberspace the other day, offering a litany of complaints about our country. The poster was wealthy and famous. Is anyone really surprised that the demographic that we hear complain about our political and economic system the most is the wealthiest one percent that benefits most? The squeaky wheel gets the grease. In fairness I’m sure poor folks do plenty of complaining as well, but they can’t set up foundations to fund think tanks, nor do they have the social media savvy to post their complaints and have them go viral.
Admittedly I have my own complaints, namely that we need to increase our focus on kindness, community and humanity in this country. What bugged me about the famous wealthy guy’s post was his justification for complaining: he worked 50+ hours a week throughout his life. Ah, the virtuous man in a workaholic culture. My friends, seldom can you work at your career and work with your community at the same time. Not only that, one of the biggest deterrents to being kind is being hurried. Our hurried lifestyle is in large part driven by our work. Life requires balance, including a balance of work and community. At what point do we spend too much time at work and not enough with community for the good of our society?
For me that point came as a high school teacher. As a conscientious, nontenured teacher I worked 60-70 hours a week. I received accolades for my teaching, the most meaningful being the student who wrote me a letter saying that she did not like science, but she wanted to be an English teacher using my approach to teaching. My evaluations were excellent. Yet I was laid off, bumped by a tenured teacher whose position was cut, before I myself became tenured.
That was probably the best thing that could happen to me and my family. I worked long hours because I thought my family role should be that as breadwinner, only to have those long hours be in vain. Meanwhile, my hours working meant hours deprived of spending time with my family and community, time that would have contributed to everyone’s health and happiness more than working 60+ hours a week. I can’t be blamed for not knowing this ahead of time, but my dedication to work decreased health and happiness for my family while failing to increase our security.
I know that’s just me. What about a person who works 50+ hours a week, and succeeds with fame and wealth in the bargain? Indeed, his fame is that of a wholesome man who has brought many a smile to those who have never met him. You notice I’ve not mentioned his name, nor cited his many complaints so as not to distract you from the real issue here.
Do those 50+ hours automatically make him virtuous in our workaholic culture, giving him license for a whole litany of complaints? Or even as he might have brought cheer to those that don’t know him, should he have spent more of those hours with others that do know him in a true spirit of community (I’m not talking about the homogeneity of gated or church communities)? Would a greater focus on community life, rather than bringing us smiles in a public life, produce a man less prone to complaining?
The answer to that question, as to so many in our civilized lives, lies in the natural condition of early nomads. More on that in the next part.
