Fantastic piece - I appreciate the rare degree of political even-handedness, and the balance of theory and application. I particularly agree with the idea that "work-life balance" is not something meaningfully solved at an individual level in most cases, and rather is a broader social pattern that is out of balance at present.
You mention women moving into the workforce (mobilization) as a positive change. However, in the entire essay you leave out the effects on men. Half the population. It's great that women have equal rights and they are moving into many areas in the work place. It's also benefited society in many ways. However, moral judgements aside, for every traditionally male job a women takes or is given, theirs a man who is denied a job. The reality is that it's a zero sum game. A winner and loser. Whether you care about men or not it's just a fact. We know thru diversity programs, government and feminist initiatives for the last 50 years, women have been given preference. We're not seeing a reciprocal action in female dominated jobs. Nor empathy for the effects on men.
In terms of disruption of family life, suicide rates are 4 times higher for men. 75% of divorces are initiated by women. Most likely because of the advantages given to women in family court. A substantial number of young men are sexless and having trouble finding mates due to hypergamy.
I just ask that you consider men and the impact societal changes have had on them. For the most part, they have been the losers.
There is so much truth in what you say, but for starters , we need the federal government to guarantee an entry-level job with full benefits at $16 an hour for every person in the country who wants to work. from there they can start to build a life. Almost all poverty in the US would be eliminated by a jobs guarantee, and from there generations of people would have a decent chance to prosper. See Congress.org, H. Res. 145, 2021, Ayanna Pressley (D Mass)
May 10, 2023·edited May 10, 2023Liked by Brink Lindsey
As for dystopian science fiction: I'm seeing signs of a kind of hyper-rational, cynical nihilism among the youngsters. Redditors are responding to my reasonable "maybe it's not so bad" interpretations of current events with versions of "Oh you sweet summer child." This particular response sounded condescending, and a polite query about this phrase revealed that it's a GOT meme.
This led me to the paranoid thought that Game of Thrones is becoming a highly influential, pessimistic and major metaphor for life among some of our subcultures. Between the precariat who can hardly find work and the knowledge workers who are expected to relinquish their very life essence to their employers, this is hardly surprising. One consequence of social media is that people think that what's "here and now" is all there has ever been. Few have time to develop a perspective on the diversity of human events throughout history and across the globe.
How would you respond to feminist or queer critics who view the institutions of family and neighborhood you seek to empower ( to counterbalance the market and the state) not as sources of meaning and belonging but as inherently oppressive institutions which rule through a “cage of norms” that people in the latter part of the 20th century fought long and hard to be liberated from?
Your description of giving people alternatives to market and state reminds me of the "Global Village Construction Set," https://www.opensourceecology.org/gvcs/, a project that's been working for some years on developing a technology stack sufficient to allow a village-size group of people to sustain themselves with modern conveniences and relatively low labor requirements. It's a bit hippie-ish in a Whole Earth Catalog way, but it may be pointing in an interesting direction for helping realize your definite optimism.
This made me go back and read Camus' "The Myth of Sisyphus." Camus advocated a finite hope in the face of our absurdity. Seamus Heaney talks about hope rather than optimism because, although we know things don't turn out well oftentimes, there are things worth working for. Here, cue LOTR music from the Shire, as Samwise reminds Frodo that there are things worth fighting for.
Brink, have you read Mariana Mazzucato? Author of Mission Economy? I haven't read her but I know she's favored by some of the ecomodernist types and wondered what you thought if you've encountered her.
Fantastic piece - I appreciate the rare degree of political even-handedness, and the balance of theory and application. I particularly agree with the idea that "work-life balance" is not something meaningfully solved at an individual level in most cases, and rather is a broader social pattern that is out of balance at present.
You mention women moving into the workforce (mobilization) as a positive change. However, in the entire essay you leave out the effects on men. Half the population. It's great that women have equal rights and they are moving into many areas in the work place. It's also benefited society in many ways. However, moral judgements aside, for every traditionally male job a women takes or is given, theirs a man who is denied a job. The reality is that it's a zero sum game. A winner and loser. Whether you care about men or not it's just a fact. We know thru diversity programs, government and feminist initiatives for the last 50 years, women have been given preference. We're not seeing a reciprocal action in female dominated jobs. Nor empathy for the effects on men.
In terms of disruption of family life, suicide rates are 4 times higher for men. 75% of divorces are initiated by women. Most likely because of the advantages given to women in family court. A substantial number of young men are sexless and having trouble finding mates due to hypergamy.
I just ask that you consider men and the impact societal changes have had on them. For the most part, they have been the losers.
There is so much truth in what you say, but for starters , we need the federal government to guarantee an entry-level job with full benefits at $16 an hour for every person in the country who wants to work. from there they can start to build a life. Almost all poverty in the US would be eliminated by a jobs guarantee, and from there generations of people would have a decent chance to prosper. See Congress.org, H. Res. 145, 2021, Ayanna Pressley (D Mass)
Excellent essay. Applicable at the personal level as well as the societal.
As for dystopian science fiction: I'm seeing signs of a kind of hyper-rational, cynical nihilism among the youngsters. Redditors are responding to my reasonable "maybe it's not so bad" interpretations of current events with versions of "Oh you sweet summer child." This particular response sounded condescending, and a polite query about this phrase revealed that it's a GOT meme.
This led me to the paranoid thought that Game of Thrones is becoming a highly influential, pessimistic and major metaphor for life among some of our subcultures. Between the precariat who can hardly find work and the knowledge workers who are expected to relinquish their very life essence to their employers, this is hardly surprising. One consequence of social media is that people think that what's "here and now" is all there has ever been. Few have time to develop a perspective on the diversity of human events throughout history and across the globe.
I appreciate your optimism, both now and in your earlier work.
How would you respond to feminist or queer critics who view the institutions of family and neighborhood you seek to empower ( to counterbalance the market and the state) not as sources of meaning and belonging but as inherently oppressive institutions which rule through a “cage of norms” that people in the latter part of the 20th century fought long and hard to be liberated from?
Your description of giving people alternatives to market and state reminds me of the "Global Village Construction Set," https://www.opensourceecology.org/gvcs/, a project that's been working for some years on developing a technology stack sufficient to allow a village-size group of people to sustain themselves with modern conveniences and relatively low labor requirements. It's a bit hippie-ish in a Whole Earth Catalog way, but it may be pointing in an interesting direction for helping realize your definite optimism.
This made me go back and read Camus' "The Myth of Sisyphus." Camus advocated a finite hope in the face of our absurdity. Seamus Heaney talks about hope rather than optimism because, although we know things don't turn out well oftentimes, there are things worth working for. Here, cue LOTR music from the Shire, as Samwise reminds Frodo that there are things worth fighting for.
Brink, have you read Mariana Mazzucato? Author of Mission Economy? I haven't read her but I know she's favored by some of the ecomodernist types and wondered what you thought if you've encountered her.