Word of the Day: hoise There will be a real entry here after I come home from work, wherein I will be complaining about work and finances and gushing about JD and Patrick. I wrote the following today at work. I don't think there's one complete thought in the whole thing, but it scratches the surface. One day it's all going to fall apart. This horrible, horrendous monster we all depend on for survival will cease to exist as an establishment and will free us all into utter ruin. That was simply a tragically melodramatic way of saying that our collective situation sucks and we're, in a work, screwed. I find it very degrading, not only with respect to myself but also humanity, to have to rely so heavily on the decisions of some guy I've never met who only looks after himself. Really, what am I trying so hard fo? I've gotten one raise in two years. I'm on time, I work hard, I do my job. The only reason I'm working is for my family. I don't give a damn if Steve Hsu takes away ten thousand dollars after he pays the bills or if he takes away over one hundred thousand. Pay your people for the work they do and pay your bills--the rest is yours. If your profit in only a part of what is made, well, that's capitolism, bitch. Of course, I can say this to myself--If your pay is only a part of what your work is worth, well, that's capitolism, bitch. The harsh reality is that we all live in a nation of mostly souless bastards who don't car about love or family or quality of life, just quantity of dollars in their pockets. That, my friend, is the American dream. But really, what do they care? They're looking out for themselves, same as I am. They're making money for their interests, loves, families, etc. They don't care about me, I don't care about them, just so long as we get paid, that's all that seems to matter. But... what would happen if we all quit playing by the rules? Because, of course, there are rules in capitolism that must be followed in order for the train to keep running. Rules such as--you get paid for the work you do [unless you're the boss, then you get paid for being the titular head of the monster you've created], you can spend your money wherever you want, and you can work wherever doing whatever you want. But, in reality, you don't get paid for the work you do, you get paid the absolute minimum you could possibly get for doing what you do. It doesn't matter if you're good at what you do or not, if you're Employee of the Month-January or on your third write-up, the boss makes money from underpaying employees. That's technically following the rules, but just barely. There was a rule I failed to mention, on that is a basis for economic stability--employees work their best for maximum pay. If an employee is doing well at a job, they deserve a reward, namely a higher wage. The harder they work the more they deserve to be rewarded and the happier they'll be when they are. Well-paid employees are employees who'll be loyal for longer. However, if an employee is doing well at a job and doesn't receive the deserved reward, it throws off the whol system. Either the employee quits trying to work hard and do well because they've lost the motivation or the employee becomes disgruntled, resentive, angry, and little, if anything, will appease him. In both casese the employee loses their job, either through being fired for not performing up to standard or through quitting because they're angry at the disrespect. Now there's a whole army of unemployeed folk who are either disillusioned and lazy or disgruntled and idealistic, neither of which are the basis of a good workforce. There is no motivation. This hotel will cease being a Holiday Inn by the times this year is out whether I work my ass of or not. The question is, then, why do I do what I do? I know what it's like to be the disgruntled, overworked, underpaid, run-to-the-bone employee, but I can't make myself quit I haven't tried not doing everything I can because that goes against my very nature to help out when I can and to focis my energy on the task at hand. Anyway, I'm scare of being fired. I will exist in this limbo, this state of unimaginable frustration and loyalty until I cannot last another day, and then I will transform into a ball of shiney energy and will ascend to another plane of being. Pft. Yeah, that would be nice. Nothing works as predicted because of the shiftiness of human nature. Why does capitalism not work like it's supposed to? Because people are lazy and don't want to work and because employers are greedy and don't want to give their money away. It's ironic that these are also some of the reasons communism doesn't work in practice, or socialism, or any other Utopian society or governmnets. Another proof of the shiftiness of human nature--I started writing this planning on making this big statement on how I'm going to stop working so hard if I don't get a raise or a better position how my quiet rebellion will make an impact and will get things done, but instead I found out I'm a pasny who doesn't want to get fired and who cares too much about things that don't care about me. I still believe, however, in the rebellion of the angered, and perhaps tomorrow I'll do a little less that what is expected of me and see how breaking the rules feels. If I like it and if I sense no danger, I'll proceed. But one day at a time. I've got patience--that's why I'm still here. I'll just focus on something different, try to not give everything I've got into something I know is going to fail. Like I said, I've got patience, I can wait this out to the end and see what happens, but when Steve Hsu opens up his Holiday Inn Express on the north side of town like we all know he's going to evertually do, I'm telling everyone I know to tell everyone they know not to stay there because the owners don't care about their employees. Now that, my friend, that is also capitalism. You're got the choise to pay me crap and I've got the choice to screw you over. Yeah, after reading that over it doesn't really make sense, but it did make me feel better. Which is always nice.