Welcome all you new subscribers and thanks so much for your support!
Just a quick note to share an article a friend sent me a couple weeks ago, related to my post on the iron cage, which you can read here. It’s an article from The Guardian that starts with the story of Gavin, who sounds basically like a deadbeat. When we all went to working from home, Gavin figured out a way to keep his computer out of sleep mode to make his employers think he was working. He was not. Though, really, didn’t most of us do this at some point when we were working from home? In capitalist terms, as the article describes, Gavin is a unit of negative output, gaming the system in whatever way he can to steal back hours and minutes of his day in which to do whatever he wants.
Or…Gavin’s freaking brilliant and my new role model! As he says in the article, “I work to pay my bills and keep a roof over my head…I don’t see any value or purpose in work. Zero. None whatsoever.” In other words, Gavin’s escaped the iron cage. Work is just work. It doesn’t make you virtuous or worthy or better. It’s just a means to an end.
Gavin, the article argues, is an example of a time millionaire, someone who’s taking time back from the greedy demands of the capitalist workplace and feeling not the least bit guilty about it. It’s an interesting read, so check it out.
Thanks, as always, for reading and subscribing! If you’re local to Madison, check out the series of winter writing classes I’ll be offering. Use the promo code, YOUTHINKFALL21, to get $5 off your first ticket.
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The iron cage and time millionaires
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Welcome all you new subscribers and thanks so much for your support!
Just a quick note to share an article a friend sent me a couple weeks ago, related to my post on the iron cage, which you can read here. It’s an article from The Guardian that starts with the story of Gavin, who sounds basically like a deadbeat. When we all went to working from home, Gavin figured out a way to keep his computer out of sleep mode to make his employers think he was working. He was not. Though, really, didn’t most of us do this at some point when we were working from home? In capitalist terms, as the article describes, Gavin is a unit of negative output, gaming the system in whatever way he can to steal back hours and minutes of his day in which to do whatever he wants.
Or…Gavin’s freaking brilliant and my new role model! As he says in the article, “I work to pay my bills and keep a roof over my head…I don’t see any value or purpose in work. Zero. None whatsoever.” In other words, Gavin’s escaped the iron cage. Work is just work. It doesn’t make you virtuous or worthy or better. It’s just a means to an end.
Gavin, the article argues, is an example of a time millionaire, someone who’s taking time back from the greedy demands of the capitalist workplace and feeling not the least bit guilty about it. It’s an interesting read, so check it out.
Thanks, as always, for reading and subscribing! If you’re local to Madison, check out the series of winter writing classes I’ll be offering. Use the promo code, YOUTHINKFALL21, to get $5 off your first ticket.
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