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
