Old friend of mine recently wrote:
I was chatting with someone who had recently spent a fair amount of time in Italy. She said, I'm not surprised they're having economic problems. They seem to hardly work at all.I must say this made me see red, and I responded in what was probably a rather testy tone. This smug American cliche that furriners don't work hard enough always makes me want to kick the speaker in the teeth.
Furriners work plenty hard. They just don't have the hagridden ratlike darting manner of Americans, who always have to show you how busy they are.
Stuff gets done in Italy, and well done. Italian hotels are a lot nicer than American ones, and Italian food is a lot better. Somebody has to cook it. Italian public transportation is at least as good as American, and the intercity trains are a lot better. The schools are infinitely better. The roads are as good as ours, or better, and somebody has to maintain them. There's electricity in the outlets. Trash is collected and streets are swept, both a lot better than in New York. (Except in Ravenna, which was kind of a shithole the last time I was there. That was a while ago, though.)
Italian workers certainly aren't under the harrow -- yet -- the way Amurrican workers are, though the German bankers are doing their best to put them there. But what needs doing gets done, and done well. We'd be better off imitating Italy all round than Italy would be imitating us.
The problem is that Amurricans here in God's own country have to work too hard, and we don't get shit for it, and we've convinced ourselves that being exploited and slave-driven and terrorized into frantic activity in the workplace shows how virtuous we are. Sheer madness.
Comments (7)
"The problem is that Amurricans here in God's own country have to work too hard, and we don't get shit for it, and we've convinced ourselves that being exploited and slave-driven and terrorized into frantic activity in the workplace shows how virtuous we are. Sheer madness."
Hear Hear!
It's the Calvinistic New England puritan mentality of God rewards the saved here on earth with riches mish mashed with the slave owning plantation mentality of the south.
What a sorry combination.
Posted by Drunk Pundit | September 28, 2012 1:02 PM
Posted on September 28, 2012 13:02
...the slave owning plantation mentality of the south. What about the slave driving industrialists of the north?
Posted by par4 | September 28, 2012 4:03 PM
Posted on September 28, 2012 16:03
"What about the slave driving industrialists of the north?"
Yeah, that too!
Posted by Drunk Pundit | September 28, 2012 4:25 PM
Posted on September 28, 2012 16:25
Hell, Minsk had nicer subways and cleaner streets than most places in Stati Uniti, particularly New York. The Soviets were of course fanatical about trams, subways and trolly buses (many of San Fransisco's electric buses are Skoda-built, incidentally) and this is reflected across Eastern Europe--sadly in Russia itself things have been left to go to pot for now, it seems.
India--the poorest place I've been--actually really impressed me in its industriousness. Apparently it was the most advance country in the world before colonization. For example, whereas most other countries use Japanese or European-make cars (apart from Canada and--oddly--Scandinavia, even Latin America seem to recognize how much American cars suck), most of the vehicles I saw (I lot, at any rate) were Indian makes and often quite original in design not just Mercedes clones.
Posted by Peter Ward | September 28, 2012 4:46 PM
Posted on September 28, 2012 16:46
Lean production, which is Taylorism on steroids, is the insidious managerial set of control mechanisms in the workplace that has driven work intensity in the US and much of the world to insane levels. Strong unions can resist it to a degree, but these are nowhere to be found in the United States. What is worse is that so many workers buy into this and take a perverse pride in being wage slaves. They even time study each other in some workplaces! I know, I know, times are tough and we all have to get by. But like Zapata said, "better to die on your feet than live on your knees." And why keep busting your ass just to help produce the vomitorium of goods filling ever shop and store and which don't make us happy. Let's focus on producing good, healthy food, decent housing, etc. for ourselves. Shoot the fucking capitalists. Work as little as needed to satisfy needs.
Posted by michael yates | September 28, 2012 7:32 PM
Posted on September 28, 2012 19:32
your friend passed this along to YOU ?
not a very close friend i take it
recall a simpson episode :
homer for some reason or un reason
gets elevated to boss
at the atom energy plant
he makes this debute PA communication :
" work harder ...that is all"
Posted by op | September 28, 2012 8:00 PM
Posted on September 28, 2012 20:00
What MJS said. Every word. We're pushed to work harder, harder, harder. And for what reason, beyond enriching the rich? Because, well, "We all need to work harder, harder, harder." it's a form of mass delusion, insanity. The lunatics really, truly do run the asylum, and profit from it.
Posted by Chomskyzinn | September 28, 2012 8:58 PM
Posted on September 28, 2012 20:58