“But then we’d lose all the advances—”
“What advances?” Malcolm said irritably. “The number of hours that women devote to housework has not changed since 1930, dispite all the advances. All the vaccum cleaners, washer-dryers, trach compactors, garbage disposals, wash-and-wear fabrics…Why does it still take as long to clean the house as it did in 1930?”
Elle said nothing.
“Because there haven’t been any advances. Thirty thousand years ago, when men were doing cave paintings at Lascaux, they worked twenty hours a week to provide for themselves with food and shelter and clothing. The rest of the time, they could play, or sleep, or do whatever they wanted. And they lived in the natural world, with clean air, clean water, beautiful trees and sunsets. Think about it. Twenty hours a week. Thirty thousand years ago.”
—Michael Crichton, Jurassic Park
I recently read Jurassic Park for the first time. I’ve seen the movie, naturally, who hasn’t? But keeping to my experience, the book is better. More detailed, more complex and more thought provoking. Crichton is a master story teller who beautifully weaves bits of real science with fiction and occasionally turns philosophical, as the above quote suggests.
I don’t know if the stats are correct, 20 hours a week and all that, but the thought pattern holds for me. Our world moves at breakneck speed, but I don’t think we’re really getting anywhere any faster than anyone before us has. Maybe, like efficient hamsters on steroids, we’re just running faster in more elaborate wheels.
I make a living in the corporate world where hard work is highly regarded. Unfortunately, hard work is defined in numbers: profits, hours worked, that sort of thing. Commitment to family (or God or your favorite hobby) are not valued and consequently, not rewarded. Rather, an employee who is serious about only working the 40 works for which he/she is getting paid is accused of being a “clock watcher” and a poor team player. How dare we regard anything more highly than we do the welfare of the company?
Take another of my favorite examples: it wasn’t that long ago that organizations of all kinds (particularly kids’ extracurricular activities) were never scheduled at certain times (like Sundays and Wednesday nights) and never exceeded relatively short periods of time. Now kids end up in practices and at games daily, putting in more time for their favorite sport than they do with their families in most cases. What changed?
We (parents and employees) stopped saying no. We allow our bosses or our kid’s soccer coach to determine the character, tenor and health of our families. What kind of insanity is this? And the kicker is that this trend will continue as long as we allow it to, and I fear we are nowhere near to stopping it. We’re too busy moving faster, faster, faster.
So what is a sane person to do? Find a job that is sane, one that allows you a life away from work and honors your values. Commit to people more than you commit to work or your favorite team. Refuse to be a part of this system. Revolt against it by living differently. People may not get you, they may accuse you of being unprofessional or of not being a team player, but you’ll have a much fuller life.
Good stuff. My thoughts on this:
http://pastorkes.blogspot.com/2004/05/running-on-empty.html
left by Kester on 06.30.2007 at 5:15 pm