Muck

When my parents chose careers, it was work to live. Work provided the means to create a life. When did our culture shift so that work IS life? Not only is there a sense that work is supposed to provide you emotional and mental fulfillment, there is a sense that's what done to our job is personally done to us. Now, there's no doubt that can happen, but is it impossible for people to step outside of an ego-centric box to realize that there are bigger forces at work?

If the economy tanks and factories close, it affects us personally, but the decision isn't personal. If budgets demand a work load shift, it's not a personal decision. If we can't afford the cable television we've gotten used to, the world is not out to get us.

I understand why Orwell and Huxley had such a pessimistic view of the world. For every step forward, the nature of humankind pulls us back down into the muck.