We’ve long ago lost the forty hour week our
forebears worked so hard to get. Back then weekends free of work gave families time
to do things together; time for sport and recreation; time to rest and recover.
Now we work every day. Both parents work. We pay non-family
workers to take care of our children so that we can work. And this is called progress?
Why have wages altered our living so much that some people have to work seven
days a week or they cannot fund a home – give their children an education – or afford
to have them taught a hobby. We don’t have time to relax, recover and restart
anymore.
We live in an age of machines and the microchip and
somehow the big bosses have begun to think their workers are machines as well. Antibiotics,
anti-depressants and vaccinations keep us working even when we’re not well. It’s
the money age. It’s the age of possessions. We’ve been manipulated and brain
washed by advertising. The millionaires and the billionaires pay the Advertising
Merchants to suck us into - ‘Buy this! Buy a bigger this! Buy a better this!’
They’ve taken us over and we can’t see it. We work
to their will, buy to their persuasions and build bigger than required houses
with bigger than we can afford mortgages – monuments to our own egos! We’ve been brain washed, downgraded and
deprived of our rights and we don’t even know it.
The old religions are out. The new religion has been
surreptitiously well established. We now spend our lives doing whatever the new
Religion tells us to do. It’s the frenetic compulsion – no time to think – no
time to recover - Shopaholic Religion. Hail to the Mighty Dollar!
Jean, you're right! We are so pressured to have 'stuff' whether we need it or not that we're on a treadmill to earn enough to fund our addiction.If only we could ban commercials - wouldn't life be peaceful then? We could be content with what we've got and go back to enjoying simple things and human contact.
ReplyDeleteHow true! Our ancestors fought bitterly for the 40 hour week so they could have rest time, so they could spend time with their families, so they could enjoy this wonderful country of ours. We have just 'celebrated' Labour Day - and most of the shops were open and the working and shopping life and patterns of any other day continued unabated. These ancestors of ours are turning in their graves at today's constant homage to work. No wonder we have so many social problems!
ReplyDeleteWe have become slaves to the banks by taking out huge mortgages and adding debt to our credit cards. I find it sad that it appears to be that poorer people have more 'stuff'. I am at a stage in my life where less is best, and I can't stand clutter! Give me a book, time in my garden and a walk along beach or through the bush any day...
ReplyDeleteQuite right, Helen. I wonder how long it will take for our society to regain perspective on what's really important. It doesn't help to have the latest technology if we have to sacrifice our relationships and our sanity by working crazy hours to pay for it!
DeleteYep! And now the toilet cistern's leaking and the new washer ($2.80) doesn't seem to be fixing it and if I have to pay over $80.00 for a call out from a plumber (as quoted on a ph call) I'll be hopping mad!
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