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The Fruits Of Our Labor
‘Aditi Tahiti’ just posted this quote from Helen Keller to a post on my site:
This great republic is a mockery of freedom as long as you are doomed to dig and sweat to earn a miserable living while the masters enjoy the fruit of your toil.
The quote seems to come from a piece of correspondence by Keller, called Menace of the Military Program which you can read in full.
Reading this quote though gives me idea. Keller here is hooked into this vision (ironic word choice, I know) where freedom means that you get to keep what you work for. She says we don’t have freedom because we have “masters” who take from us the “fruits of our toil.” The solution to the situation she is describing would be only to overthrow the masters, right? Clearly this doesn’t work. You need only look at history to see that new masters will always fill the void and the new boss is the same as the old boss, as the saying goes.
So maybe it’s not that the solution is faulty, but that the description of the problem is at fault. We change the description of the problem and we may come up with additional solutions.
Interesting that she talks about “fruit” and about digging and sweating. Have you ever planted a vegetable garden and really had it succeed? Have you ever walked by an apple tree heavy with fruit? Both yield a far larger amount of food than you’re likely to be able to actually eat all by yourself. Just yesterday my roomate was given a bunch of amazing fresh tomatoes from a coworker faced with this same problem of abundance. He gave them away for us to use rather than letting them go to waste or rot on the vine. Maybe hidden within this common dilemma is another way of looking at our problems.
What if instead of resenting the “masters” for taking away from us the fruits of our labor, what if we began to use another metaphor? The metaphor of giving away the extra fruits that we don’t need, that we ourselves can’t use. We don’t give away vegetables to neighbors out of spite or because of coercion; we do it in pride over the work that we did, and are thrilled with our ability to share this natural bounty with others. Can we adapt that to all kinds of work, besides just work in the garden, or is that hopelessly optimistic and impossible?
What would the world look like if we gave of ourselves freely and happily like this, instead of hoarding our time, our love, our resources? What if we went to work for a week and when our paychecks came, we said to our bosses, “No thank you. The work is it’s own reward, and I’m happy to share my time with you.” It seems ridiculous to imagine, but it may also be what Jesus had in mind when he admonished his followers to give away everything they owned. In so doing, you break the chain of problem/solution thinking created by ideas of scarcity and freedom, such as described by Helen Keller in the quote above.
- I need cheap labor, cash paid.
- Labor Day Preparations…
- Un/Skilled Labor in Reality
- Going Rates For Unskilled Labor?
- By Their Fruits
- Prev: The Law of the Water
- Next: Suicide & Genocide
September 9th, 2006 at 10:04 pm
You should check out “Accursed Share” by Georges Bataille. Good read.
September 9th, 2006 at 11:31 pm
In what is described as a pure world socialist government, everything would be free. Work would be optional. People would do work by choice, and then share the fruits of their efforts with others freely. I’m not sure if this would work.
The human race is inevitably and profoundly influenced by their own well-being, and will do anything to get ahead. It is only when general consciousness reaches a level where we understand our well-being is related to everyone else’s that anything in this vein would be possible.
Still, there are ways to improve our current system. Optomism is one. Masters can be replaced by new masters in a system that is conscious of itself, and dynamic. It should be harder for those in power to remain in power than it is.
September 10th, 2006 at 12:38 am
the technocracy is, by definition, for those who love power. if you don`t then you aren`t going to want to be in power, or of power etc. but don`t think that others won`t because you don`t want to, or that because you don`t you are somehow more spiritually evolved. the moral trap that those who abhor power get caught in is that power is somehow inherently evil.
the giving up of money as a moral answer is only going to deprive you of your ability to sustain your own existance. it`s not going to force someone else`s hand one iota.
work isn`t it`s own reward unless you work for yourself, in your art or craft or business, like you do here. the value is that we all communicate via the community that you are the catalist for. you aren`t going to refuse that reward, so why refuse the reward for work elsewhere?
September 10th, 2006 at 12:41 am
and besides, the masters have provided the mechanisms by which we can survive here…….if we were to attempt to destroy that we would be destroying ourselves.
September 10th, 2006 at 3:03 am
Yes, I would have to agree. That’s how I read the Christ myth and that’s how I try to live it. Unfortunately, this is also the MO of nefarious characters who try to take whatever semblence of free will that remains (i.e. fiendish cults) Definitely “fine line” territory here. This is why I go back to the technocracy folks. They promise a Gene Rodenberry Utopia, but we still fall under a “council of elders” trap. Analysis and execution are two VERY different processes all together. I wonder if it is humanly possible to achieve these things. Though, I still have hope.
This is off the subject, but my wife and I are film makers who deal with similar subject matter as this sight, though in fiction form. If you guys are interested in what we do, I’ve started uploading our work onto the net. You can check out one of two shorts that ultimately led us to a feature we will be shooting in January. I would be interested in the opinions/(constructive) criticism of like minded people. The link is: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pJuHgi8qkmk
And Tim, if you feel this is an intrusion, I apologize. Just trying to make a connection.
September 10th, 2006 at 9:01 am
Yup, you should definately read the accursed share.
I see it as an antidote to the protestant work ethic,
and the rationalism of technocracy.
… And yet it’s foundations are the very same foundations as technocracy:
The world as a thermodynamic system.
Maybe we should resent the masters for not valuing the fruits of our labour?
For if they truly vauled our produce, maybe they would treat us far better?
In fact, isn’t this how most succesful union campaigns proceed?
So, to get more precise, we shouldn’t resent our masters, but the opinions, or non-opinions they have of us.
September 10th, 2006 at 12:36 pm
Alistair, I’m not saying I abhor power. I’m saying that this may very well be a way to reclaim power. The only reason a boss has power over us is because he gives us something (money) and so we feel like we have to give something in return. But, if we were not to accept the money they give, then we upset the power balance. Suddenly we are the givers and providers and they are reliant on us.
September 10th, 2006 at 3:09 pm
yes, i see that ,and it`s a way to disarm certainly…….but how long can one sustain such a reversal?
the inevitability of the economic relationship is one of exchange of value. we still need something in return from these people and they know it. when we are self sufficient we will be able to spurn the paycheque indefinitely. what do we do with t he power when we get it?
September 10th, 2006 at 9:22 pm
Interesting notion - giving up the paycheque scenario. However, to provide the ‘masters’ with services for free would lead us further into slavery. They wouldn’t grok and it would serve only to further fuel their rapacious appetites for services for free. For we do a lot for ‘free’ these days out of fear …
If there is one thing I’ve learned from ‘wurking’, it’s that if you give your ‘all’ or do anything at all out of a sense of duty or altruism - ‘they’ take and take and take - and don’t give back. They really don’t.
Accordingly, I don’t believe that that such an action would disarm them; they’re too unconscious. In many ways they’re stupid, you know. No, they’re not all that intelligent - they just, in my opinion, have a certain animal cunning about them. They’re only interested in sating their appetite for power, mind-fucking and money making. They would not grok.
And yes … I’m bitter. But I still manage to have a larf now and then and enjoy the sunshine and the trees and all that.
(By the way, been enjoying your blog very much.)
D.
September 10th, 2006 at 11:29 pm
The point is not to make them understand anything but to liberate ourselves from resentment by affirming our own abundance, freely given
September 11th, 2006 at 6:49 am
the liberation is a choice we make anyway. we can do it outside of the relationship of the protestant work ethic. we can choose to be, um, happy for no reason anyway……because it doesn`t matter to anyone else but us as individuals. we are the one`s having the experience. you are now reading these words and having ideas as a result. you choose, based on prior experiences, to react and post accordingly. there are those wh are so angered by the idea of individal freedoms and happiness that they would have people with such views rounded up and shot……..and there are those who like the idea of happiness.
and by the way, you can`t win the political or economic games. jordan maxwell laid that one out. all we can do is work on a building a personal oasis of undonditional love and unattach from conflict whenever possible.
September 11th, 2006 at 8:46 am
The point is not to make them understand anything but to liberate ourselves from resentment by affirming our own abundance, freely given
(Boucher Quote)
Sorry i’m crap at blocking quotes -
Anyway, yes I understand you but I don’t think you’d find it liberating in the long run. Try it and see. You might get a short term ‘high’ off of it but resentment will creep in.
I should know - I’ve lived it and done it. People are animals who are basically out for themselves with flashes of compassion and empathy coming through at times. Humans are trying to get there, but it’s a very slow process and all bets are off.
We’re pretty self-centrered - but then we have to be to get on in the world - animals aren’t really that ‘nice’ either - they cannot afford it. In short - Mother nature ain’t kind and she never was. She’s terribly pretty sometimes, but dodgy and so are we.
Errg - this is rambly and I haven’t had my morning coffee. I told you I was bitter …you must be young LOL
September 11th, 2006 at 3:38 pm
we romanticize the action of nature by refering to it as “mother”, this gives the impression that the environment is this benign nurturing entity that has our best interests in mind. blessed are those who can hold that view into thier later years for whatever reason. one only has to be self-employed for an appreciable length of time or endure one or two of life`s larger reversals to realise that “mother” is a harsh bitch……………
that`s no excuse for not smiling though. george harrison said that all things must pass, and he`s right.
September 11th, 2006 at 5:46 pm
Yes Alistair - everything that arises, ceases … eventually. Or, as Siddhatta said, “Annicam annata dhukka” - or something like that .. my ancient Pali’s a bit rusty these days, so the spelling’s a bit bollocky.
As to smiling … there …
ouch! That hurt!
Hmm - I may be enjoying despising ‘them’ too much. That could be an interesting (and disturbing) post …
September 11th, 2006 at 8:43 pm
yes, and especially on a day such as today we have to reinstall the neurochemical imprint triggered by the smile. it`s reflex is to release the brain chemicals that say……..everything`s going to be o.k., because if we don`t drive the bus someone else will.