Meandering entry, hopefully with substance
Mar. 2nd, 2002 02:59 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
pearwaldorfI need a fucking cigarette. But I don't smoke, nor do I particularly want to start, so just imagine me with a beedi in my hand, drifting thin little wafts of smoke around the keyboard while I'm typing this.
Ever have one of those days where you just think too much and you get so depressed you wish you were one of those happy, stupidly mindless bougie people who can focus on nothing more than when the latest Britney Spears single will come out?
I don't know if many people know about this, but in "at-will employment" states (which includes Oregon, California, and most of the other states in the nation) you can be let go for any reason that isn't legally prohibited (race, gender, etc). In other words, you can be let go just because your boss doesn't fucking like you, and it's perfectly within the bounds of law. Attempting to understand the mindset of people who would make this sort of regulation, I was talking with Cody who is wise in the ways of human nature and cynical as hell about it. ;o) His response was basically "It's because you're disposable. You're a machine to them, and when you're not useful to them anymore, they can replace you with someone different." It's one thing to understand conceptually the phrase "cog in the machine," it's another to actually think about it and really let it sink in how very little you are valued in the overall scheme of things. You are nothing but a drone to those higher up than you, something to help pad their bonuses and quarterly earnings. And that's just sad, and just... wrong. Wrong as fucking hell.
Of course, then I had to go and rent Clockwatchers. It's been recommended for people who liked Office Space and Clerks, so I figured, hey, it'll be funny. Whoever put this movie in the comedy section was on crack. I think this is like three steps below Schindler's List in depression factor, right above Dancer in the Dark. Don't get me wrong, it's great (except that Toni Colette way overplays her mousy wallflower role sometimes), but it's depressing as hell because it hits so close to the bone. If you want a good illustration of how Marx perceived the alienation of the worker from everything, watch this movie. But for the love of God, please follow it up with Office Space if you don't want a codeine and vodka nightcap. ^.^
Ever have one of those days where you just think too much and you get so depressed you wish you were one of those happy, stupidly mindless bougie people who can focus on nothing more than when the latest Britney Spears single will come out?
I don't know if many people know about this, but in "at-will employment" states (which includes Oregon, California, and most of the other states in the nation) you can be let go for any reason that isn't legally prohibited (race, gender, etc). In other words, you can be let go just because your boss doesn't fucking like you, and it's perfectly within the bounds of law. Attempting to understand the mindset of people who would make this sort of regulation, I was talking with Cody who is wise in the ways of human nature and cynical as hell about it. ;o) His response was basically "It's because you're disposable. You're a machine to them, and when you're not useful to them anymore, they can replace you with someone different." It's one thing to understand conceptually the phrase "cog in the machine," it's another to actually think about it and really let it sink in how very little you are valued in the overall scheme of things. You are nothing but a drone to those higher up than you, something to help pad their bonuses and quarterly earnings. And that's just sad, and just... wrong. Wrong as fucking hell.
Of course, then I had to go and rent Clockwatchers. It's been recommended for people who liked Office Space and Clerks, so I figured, hey, it'll be funny. Whoever put this movie in the comedy section was on crack. I think this is like three steps below Schindler's List in depression factor, right above Dancer in the Dark. Don't get me wrong, it's great (except that Toni Colette way overplays her mousy wallflower role sometimes), but it's depressing as hell because it hits so close to the bone. If you want a good illustration of how Marx perceived the alienation of the worker from everything, watch this movie. But for the love of God, please follow it up with Office Space if you don't want a codeine and vodka nightcap. ^.^
