Over the past year-and-a-half I have neglected this blog,
distracted by the pressures and unexpected turns of life, and ultimately deeply
disheartened with the worsening global “migration crisis”. I have railed against politicians of every
stripe, ignorantly jumped into intricate policy webs more complex than any person can
fully comprehend, and shared my two-cents consoled by the knowledge that no one
would actually read this thread in the era of out-going media where everyone is
so busy sending tweets we don't have time to read any. I have chosen to continue to speak, even if
my voice is drowned out completely by the NASCAR hurricane of our modern existence.
A global
xenophobic era is upon us—Brexit, Trump, and the genuine potential for the
collapse of the European Union. Concern
for the details of migration policy ring distant and elitist at best, or bordering
treasonous by the reckoning of the angry class. Personally, I have been
experiencing the dust devil vortex of work in the United States, where nights
and weekends are as meaningful to my daily life as the Mayan calendar. This personal unease has brought me to
reflect on my relationship with work and my growing awareness that
work is not working. There I stumbled upon the unifying thread,
the bow to wrap up my disparate and distracted musings.
What is at the heart of human migration and globalization?
Work.
I believe that work—more precisely the failings of work—is
also at the heart of the global xenophobic era and the primary stimulant for
the angry class—be they nationalist voters or caliphate militants.
Work has played different roles in human societies since
those first stone tools were crafted.
Today, we face a coming crossroads where the widespread industrial
conception of workers, labor, and production is peeling away in the face of
automation, hyper connectivity, population growth/decline, and environmental
capacity reaching. My task is to start reading, but in the meantime, I
rechristen this lonesome corner of the internet “Of Work & Play”, keeping
in mind that doe-eyed naiveté that we should
strive for a world where there is a place and a need for all of us.
