Value and Meaning in One’s Career

Over at The (2nd) Greatest Generation, the glorification of figures like Don Draper (who I just noticed resembles John Boehner) from AMC’s Mad Men made me search for the line between a healthy work ethic and an obsession with one’s profession, and the role a job plays in the big picture.

For most, the illusory correlation between success and satisfaction causes many to sacrifice what's truly important for professional power. Yes, whether you're referring to the arts, the sciences, or the world of business, persistence linked with critical and creative thinking is a commonly accepted formula for success, but it is easy to lose sight of this because the gratification is rarely immediate. Without foresight, the latency period between one's hard work and the payoff creates a sort of internal injustice, which needless to say can be quite discouraging.

While I haven't gotten to watch nearly as much of the show as I would like, Don Draper's professional obsession leaves much to be desired in the realm of personal fulfillment. Although he certainly attempts to fill the void through his various vices, these coping strategies provide more escapism than resolution for his deep-seeded issues. Sure, he may have money, power, and women, but is he happy?

Especially early in one's career, rarely does anyone feel truly fulfilled through their job, so one either deals with it by valuing the opportunities for personal development or upward mobility, or they look externally to provide meaning. Ultimately, balance must be sustained one way or another, and for true work-a-holics, they justify negligence of their personal life because they are striving for some long-term achievement. The obsession evolves into their identity, and addictions quickly consume humanity.

So where is that line between a hard day’s work and a dangerous infatuation with one’s job? It depends. Am I sayin' a 40 hour work week is perfect for everyone? Hell no, but variety is the spice of life, and our culture has increasing emphasized specialization and bureaucracies. Between our business models, standards-based education system, and the widespread availability of technology, the minds of American’s can comfortably live in a personalized bubble. We’re not pushed outside our comfort zone, we don’t readily dabble in new things, and a jack of all trades is punished if he hasn’t mastered any one skill. I’m not convinced that the human psyche has evolved (devolved?) to fit this mold since a range of interests and a diverse skill set provide the stabilized and balanced foundation that gives security if one piece falters while simultaneously quenching our inquisitive nature. When supplemented with American Individualism, we dream big and want huge returns on our investments, so if we put all our stock in a single entity without quality research and information, the risks are high.

Hence why it may be time for most Americans to diversify their portfolios and spread their roots to create balance and stability for when the storms of life try and knock us down. Hopefully at some point we can all merge our interests and skills into a career, but until then, don't settle for less.

P.S. From now on, the story of Don Draper will forever be the lost history of our speaker of the house.

Gas Prices are Too Damn High!

Its clear Americans feel pissed off about the high costs for fuel, but there's a mixed bag of individuals who wanna do something about it and those who feel as though its a hopeless inevitability that we can't really change. A Facebook Event protesting high gas prices was made to try and cut into the profits of oil companies. The info section reads as follows:

OKAY! WE HAVE HAD ENOUGH!!! Gas Strike March 10th! This worked once before...let's try it again. On March 10 if everyone does not buy gas for one day, it will hurt the oil companies. It's time we stood up to them. We CAN have a voice...REMEMBER "MARCH" 10th DO NOT BUY GAS! Please repost this to as many people as you can...it is urgent that this spreads like wildfire!

PS: Try not to fill up the day before or after so that this day will have an impact on the companies

Thanks

When I looked at the comments, there was an entire page of posts within 60 seconds of one another, most of which supported the cause, but felt powerless against Big Oil. Simply not getting gas for 3 days will not effect an industry that has consistently been setting record profits, especially since you'll probably end up giving them your money anyways. However, I don't see this as entirely futile since its at the very least raising public awareness and maybe starting a discourse. So if you wanna make a difference now, take a walk, ride a bike, use public transit, buy energy efficient vehicles, car-pool when you can, purchase local items, and do what you must to reduce your carbon footprint by less by recycling and reusing.

How to Balance the Budget: Bring the Boys Home

Rep. PELOSI: And we fool ourselves if we think that by cutting something, we're reducing the deficit. In fact, we may be adding to the deficit if we're cutting jobs and (unintelligible).

Sure Nancy, and cutting taxes increases government revenue. Maybe its true, but its like the dems using a psuedo supplyside economics argument to make their stand. Thank you politics for making my head hurt.

How about we take the hatchet to defense and end the military industrial complex. Yes, I'm pointing my finger at you Blackwater, or Xi, or however you wanna brand yourself as a means to be generously compensated while hindering our war efforts. Maybe we should end imperialism and leave our inflated egos at the door? YOU ARE NOT A NEO-CONSERVATIVE PRESIDENT OBAMA SO STOP ACTING LIKE ONE.

Class Warfare? It's Nothing Personal, just Politics

Perilous Querulous brought up an interesting discussion about unemployment.

The argument from the political right presupposes that unemployed people are economic robots that say to themselves (robotically): "I sit on couch...not look for work...money get mailed to me from government for sitting on couch...must continue to sit on couch...earn more free government money." The depressingly unimaginative Republicans seem unable to fathom that a large incentive to work in the lower socioeconomic ranks is the very sense of being a productive, contributing member of society; spending time, effort, and maybe even drawing on personal creativity to make something valuable, or perform some valuable service.

It's not that the Right doesn't consider these things, they just don't care. Understanding that the GOPs mission is not to serve the public's interest, but instead to win elections. Therefore, it would seem foolish to be out of touch with how this please politically, since it would be so easy to for Democrats to turn things around and say, "Look, under the Republicans, our nation went from running huge surpluses under Clinton to than-historical deficits under Bush, who also allowed our economy to crash. Not only did they readily allow your jobs to get shipped overseas, but now they're saying that if you're out of work because of a recession or outsourcing, tough luck because you're lazy, apathetic, and not worthy of a social safety net. Are these people really representing you or are they just pawns of big business?" Well, that argument would be too bold and obvious for most of the spineless democrats.

If cutting unemployment is to be seen as a political winner, than it seems like it must just be a derivative of the southern strategy, but more broadly defined as a war against the poor. They clearly alienate those on the bottom with their rhetoric and bashing of those who are out of jobs, hoping that this will rally their richer or more agriculturally-dependent constituents. When a large portion of the people you represent are retired, rich, or from farm states, attacking creates a blame game that pits both sides against one another. It becomes almost a rallying cry that the other is just too apathetic and not industrious enough, and that they don't deserve to have government money to put food on the table, to pay their rent, or to take their kids to school. To vilify the unemployed, who the Dems are standing up for, taints perceptions and creates this us v.s. them dynamic. When combined with violent rhetoric and the superfluous name-calling, its no surprise that not only is the country polarizing, but a level of disdain and hatred for the other side which squelches the opportunity for open discourse, which is one of the key ingredients to a successful democratic state.

In Denial Over Narcissism as an Ill?

Let's face it, America, we're awesome. No level of debt or statistics about our education failures or health care costs can disprove that feeling that we all share; we're number one!!! Don't let measly things like facts distract you. It's time to launch the fireworks, gorge ourselves with consumption (only to purge moments later), and raise the banner proudly proclaiming, "America... FUCK YEAH!"

Ok, so it doesn't require much insight to notice that we're a frivolously proud nation, and many would argue that it is unpatriotic not to shameless tout our status as the world's last superpower. Even though this American exceptionalism may personally disconnect many us from the real struggles of the outside world, our pride is one of the few bonds that holds the American people together. Isn't it?

No, this is just another sad disillusionment we concoct to pamper our broken ego. The industrial military complex has gotten the best of us in a situation that's starting to look more and more like Vietnam Part Deux, we are only now recovery from a global economy triggered by a combination of corrupt capitalism and blind optimism in the markets, and our government no longer serves the people. But hey, we're America, so God will bless us, and we're destined to spread freedom and democracy to the world because we are holier than thou. Right?

Not only is our over-inflated ego heart-wrenching on a national level, it is a macrocosm for the privileged individualism that helps many people inflate their personal self-esteem. This form of elitism and self-worship, usually caused by self-loathing and perceived social shortcomings, causes many people to deny the reality of their environment and live within their own fantasy world. This has debilitating social and personal consequences and, coupled with its high prevalence, resulted in the creation of narcissistic personality disorder, a formal diagnosis by the American Psychiatric Association to help therapists treat victims suffering from this problem.

(For more on the narcissism and its intrusion on our culture, check out my post about The Mirror Effect)

The diagnosis, along with several other personality disorders, quickly was scrutinized and attacked by clinicians and the public as a whole. It was argued that narcissism, while discouraging, failed to impair the daily life functions, and actually caused many celebrities and professionals of other industries to thrive because their narcissistic tendencies creates a "me versus the world" mentality which sparks competition within oneself. This perverse incentive was generating success, but also stripped individuals of satisfaction. However, it was argued that simply being discontent was not enough to diagnose someone with a mental illness when they were otherwise successful. More research needed to be done to understand the process and pathology of narcissism, and some mental health professionals felt that it was wrong to give someone a diagnosis for a personality that might be acceptable in certain cultures or social classes.

Knowing that it had been shrouded with controversy, I was not too surprised when I saw Elizabeth Currid-Halkett's blog post on the Wall Street Journal reporting that the DSM 5 will omit narcissistic personality disorder from the list of mental illnesses. Dr. Currid argues that it should be included in the study of abnormal psychology because of its common occurrences within our culture. Sadly, as a behavior becomes a predominant part of a culture, it becomes more difficult to consider it a disorder, but it may just be a consequence of institutionalization. Its as though the entertainment value of egotistical, elitist socialites with their own reality TV shows suddenly created a societal acceptance of narcissism. After giving consent to the self-centered behavior, its glamorization within the media encourages it to be modeled if aspiring young people want to enjoy the lifestyles of the rich and famous.

The obvious question therefore is whether Americans are too egotistical to admit their too egotistical. In an Abnormal Psych class, we were taught the dangers of narcissism and shown the success stories of those who received treatment, but we also were taught the positive reinforcement of a behavior will increase the chance that it becoming a habit, making it normal behavior. As a service to those who are suffering from the loneliness commonly associated with narcissism as well as the future of our youth, it is advised that mental health practitioners pencil narcissism into their new diagnostic manuals. Just because something is considered normal and is seen as entertaining does not mean its acceptable or rewarding. Technology and the media have perpetuated the problem enough, and I would readily forgive the APA if they came out and announced that their decision was ill-advised and that narcissism is a serious issue that demands help. However, I just fear that they're too narcissistic to admit this...