A Jobless Nation?

Tonight, as I was reading Where I Lived, and What I Lived For, I noticed a connection between the ideas the author presented about the way people in America live their lives, and the impact our values have on the "job crisis." Many Americans right now are concerned about the lack of availability of jobs right now. In an article I read, there was a lot of concern about technology taking away jobs. However, the author seemed to be against the idea of having a job. He "understands that we all want paychecks-- or at least money. We want food, shelter, clothing, and all the things that money buys us. But do we all really want jobs?" (CNN article) I agree with the author of this article in the sense that our society has recently turned its focus from productivity to employment. We have begun to look at our long term goals too much (which is important also) instead of trying to get the most out of every day.

According to Walden, the author of Where I Lived, and What I Lived For, "The millions are awake enough for physical labor; but only one in a million is awake enough for effective intellectual exertion, only one in a hundred millions to a poetic or divine life." Americans are waking up every day with only the goal of succeeding eventually, instead of appreciating life every day for what it's worth. Where is enjoyment of the little things in life? What happened to the simplicity of life? Is our society productive, or has it just allowed us to become engulfed in all of its complexities?

Both of these authors parallel the same idea that our society has become incredibly productive on its own. As stated in the CNN article, our society "is productive enough that it could probably shelter, feed, educate, and even provide health care for its entire population with just a fraction of us actually working." So then why can't our society stop dwelling on the material things we would like to eventually have? Do we really need to stay up until 2 in the morning just so we can keep our job that will eventually make us feel at "peace?" Enjoyment of every day of life is a lot more valuable than having a "career" for a living and worrying every day about achieving this lifelong goal that most of us will not achieve. Life is not meant to be wasted on worrying about getting enjoyment out of our life eventually. As Walden said, "Every man is tasked to make his life, even in its details, worthy of the contemplation of his most elevated and critical hour. If we refused, or rather used up, such paltry information as we get, the oracles would distinctly inform us how this might be done."