Knowing that we are supposed to work is not the same as knowing where we are supposed to work, or what we are supposed to do. As people sort these questions out for themselves, they often think first about compensation. If one job is as good as the next, then you may at least get one that pays well. These are the kinds of jobs people go for if they want to make money.
The more you think about it, however, the more tenuous becomes the link between compensation and work. Oh sure, there are jobs that pay very well, but there also are very important jobs that don't pay a thing. I'm thinking parent. Most of the stay-at-home parents I know work harder than many of the people I know who go to work some place. I also know people who embark on full-time volunteer work upon retirement. Some say the volunteer work is more demanding than the work they were getting paid for.
Clouding the picture further is the fact that many people work long hours for little pay, while others working those same hours make great pay. The receptionist and the executive's assistant might work the same hours at the same firm but the latter is likely to make three times what the former makes. A barber in a busy location may work harder than an attorny, yet the barber makes $40,000 a year compared to the lawyer who makes $120,000.
Even the same person doing the same work can see vast swings in compensation from year to year. Think of the salesman who is at the mercy of the economic climate. In a good year, he will make a lot of money; in a recession, he will make a lot less even though he may actually work harder.
This discussion doesn't even get into the questions of pay inequity in the work world -- questions such as: Why do some athletes and movie starts make outrageous amounts of money while teachers and public servants make only enough to get by?
My point is, the link between compensation and work is merky. This fact further makes the point that the primary purpose of work is not to make money. If it were, the differences in pay would be far too outrageous for any civilized society to accept. While work certainly can bring a person money, the real purpose of work must be something else.
I agree that the real purpose of work shouldn't be about money. What's scary, though, is that the entire U.S. economy is propped up on the idea that people should spend, spend, spend... . What happens when consumer spending slows. Well, read the papers. So if you want to devote yourself to meaningful work without regard to compensation, you really have to buck the prevailing winds that blow through all of society. Not easy. You also have to get creative with how you live, and that can put you in direct conflict with the law.
Posted by: Jackie Hilgert | June 02, 2008 at 09:56 AM