Rethinking our concept of work - About WORK/KARMA

Yesterday(Nov 6, 2013), in The Hindu appeared a article, reproduced from The New York Times. (Copied fully below along with the link) .

The article is suitably titled “Rethinking Our Concept of WORK”. It had been  written by a Spanish Professor Shri Argandonna, from the University of  Navarra in Spain.  Thinking  aloud regarding the problem of chronic unemployment, facing countries in Europe and federal America, he becomes unsure and doubtful regarding  the popular and modern   concepts regarding WORK. He points out that  modern/current social, economic  and governmental mechanisms  have abysmally failed  in providing work , livelihood and well-being to all. This crisis situation  is not accidental, but man-made  and the current problems we are wrestling with , Argandonna says “ are the inevitable outcome  of a deeper moral malaise that has infected  our social  and political institutions”.

This article from a  Western academician  is noteworthy and  its content reflects the fact that ‘the self-confident West is no more confident’ about its moorings. The West constantly and incessantly  projects its so-called  intellectual   upper-hand through all possible means, making people in the Eastern hemisphere think and  feel that they are static and way  below in scientific temper and inadequate in many other ways compared to the West. Ideas are presented in colorful ways, through net-worked media which suggests that the only way forward for any non-western society is to emulate and imitate the West. Eg. Democracy and Capitalism.  Many non-western people and societies, who  undergoes   Western-style of education,  easily take to such  views. China and Japan can be taken as classic examples of Eastern countries, who now find themselves in a log-jam. This after their  fully adopting to Western style of economic organization and production. This is the beginning step towards total doom. The West and the White-men had always been intoxicated with their self-imposed civilizing mission. But now, it seems the West itself is in doubt about its foundations.

Error-free and  complete analysis and understanding of work/karma, is the hallmark of The Gita. Infact it is the only text of that kind known to man. (My other  blogpostings contain, analysis of karma/work based on the Gita). Paul Lafarge, Max-Weber, Bertrand Russell, Daniel Defoe etc are individuals from the West who tried to get a handle on work. Alas ! their analysis are inconclusive.

The  complete article is given as follows :-

Rethinking our concept of work

The widespread unemployment caused by the global economic crisis provokes a profound reconsideration of the very idea of work itself.

This is the focus of IESE Professor latest paper, “Trabajar en Tiempos de Crisis,” in which Professor Antonio Argandona of the Instituto de Estudios Superiores de la Empresa at the University of Navarra in Spain questions whether individualistic, utilitarian societies based on self-interested motivations and relationships are truly capable of confronting the root problems behind unemployment.

These problems, from arrogance and greed to fraud, always have been present to some extent. However, the recent global financial crisis has revealed major failings of social, economic and governmental mechanisms, such that the current problems we are wrestling with cannot be chalked up to a series of unfortunate events. Rather, they are the inevitable outcome of a deeper moral malaise that has infected our social and political institutions.

Although work is often presented as a way of satisfying personal needs, broadening one’s knowledge, developing one’s skills and giving one a sense of dignity, work also can be dehumanising.

When we speak of work-related problems, unemployment usually springs to mind. A persistently high unemployment rate represents the collective failure of a society to provide opportunities for its citizens. For some, losing their jobs feels like losing their identities. The trauma is not only personal, but also is felt at the family and societal levels.

Job insecurity leaves people feeling uncertain about their futures and robs them of control over their lives. Some work can be degrading: Employees feel like commodities, faceless and easy to replace. At other times work becomes instrumental: People are treated as mere tools to be used by others, rather than as something to be valued.

It is not the fact that a worker may produce material goods that is inhumane, but rather the way in which those goods are produced. If the work does not allow time for other activities necessary for human development and well-being, such as family, social and spiritual activities, it becomes an unhealthy interference.

Perhaps one reason why work has come to lack meaning is that we have turned it into something purely instrumental. Today we measure people not by what or who they are, but by what they do — their economic success, their social ranking and what they can contribute to others.

Our society effectively makes people depend on work for their very survival. With pensions, health care and retirement arrangements inextricably linked to how much a person makes during his or her working life, people’s current and future standards of living depend wholly on their economic performance.

One reflection of how far we, as a society, have drifted concerns education. Today education is seen as a means of developing productive capital, rather than as a source of human betterment. Certain subjects are prioritised over others, such as the humanities, which tend to be viewed dimly, regardless of their importance in building a civilised society.

There are basically three reasons that drive people to work: to earn a living, to develop personally and to contribute to society.

However, there is another reason as well: Work is an everyday expression of human improvement, advancement and progress. Regardless of what we do, we always must try to do it to the best of our abilities, with a human touch and with dedication.

Work may be conceived of as a service to other people, beginning with our families and extending to our colleagues and customers, our neighbours and, ultimately, all of humanity.

The classic tale of three stonecutters captures it best: When asked what they were doing, the first said that he was cutting stone, the second said that he was supporting his family and the third said that he was building a cathedral.

In the same way, while the work may be identical, the meaning it carries can be quite different, which is why Argandona urges us all to reflect more deeply on the subject of work, at a time when the concept itself is in crisis.

© 2013 Instituto de Estudios Superiores de la Empresa, IESE Universidad de Navarra

© The New York Times 2013

Link http://www.thehindu.com/todays-paper/tp-features/tp-opportunities/rethinking-our-concept-of-work/article5318515.ece