What Am I, A Farmer?
If I were to ask you if there were any occupations that were beneath you, how would respond? Would you ever pick tomatoes or make beds in Las Vegas? I know, that's crazy talk. How about document review?
On the list of political issues that get me fired up, immigration is pretty far down the chain. But I think that this blogger is tinkering with a larger truth and that's what has me interested. As one of our former non-Catholic classmates would say: "It all comes back to the dignity of the human person." That's right buddy and defense wins championships. *wink* But certainly, there is truth in the author's point that there is no such thing as work that is beneath us.
At the same time, his approach seems insincere. He would have everyone take on manual labor, including his own children. Well, at least in their youth. I mean, we don't want them to have to do it their whole life. And naturally, if someone works hard as a lawn mower or hamburger-flipper, then they are bound to move on at some point right?
The problem isn't the President's immigration plan. I'm sorry, but its not going to undercut the very foundation of republican government. As if that is something that is supposed to make us take up arms. The problem here is that the United States is wearing two faces. Tocqueville and the American Dream are two different things entirely. And this writer is trying to have both at the same time. Either all honest callings are honorable or they are only good inasmuch as they allows the person to progress in status. And our nation as a whole has progressed so far that we can now say that there are certain occupations that are beneath us. And we can all pat each other on the back because we earned it through hard-work and determination.
I'm not really sure what my point is here. I would like to hear what you guys may have to offer on this topic, but I will leave you with this little tidbit that came to mind when I read this article. Watch all the way until the end:
P.S. If America has a democracy Bible, Tocqueville is the gospel writer and the Federalist Papers are the epistles. Am I right?
On the list of political issues that get me fired up, immigration is pretty far down the chain. But I think that this blogger is tinkering with a larger truth and that's what has me interested. As one of our former non-Catholic classmates would say: "It all comes back to the dignity of the human person." That's right buddy and defense wins championships. *wink* But certainly, there is truth in the author's point that there is no such thing as work that is beneath us.
At the same time, his approach seems insincere. He would have everyone take on manual labor, including his own children. Well, at least in their youth. I mean, we don't want them to have to do it their whole life. And naturally, if someone works hard as a lawn mower or hamburger-flipper, then they are bound to move on at some point right?
As Tocqueville wrote: "In the United States professions are more or less laborious, more or less profitable; but they are never either high or low: every honest calling is honorable." The farther we move from that notion, the closer we come to the idea that the lawyer is somehow better than the parking-lot attendant, undercutting the very foundation of republican government.Not surprising that he uses the lawyer as his "better-than-thou" exemplar. Again, I think that it is true to say that a lawyer is not better than a parking-lot attendant. But I'm afraid that the attendant is largely stuck with the lot he has drawn. Pun very much intended. And the lawyer isn't likely to ever quit his document reviewing job to go work at a parking lot. In real life, princes don't end up working at a fast food chain in the big city like Eddie Murphy in Coming to America. And in real life, beggars don't end up working on Wall Street like... Eddie Murphy in Trading Places.
The problem isn't the President's immigration plan. I'm sorry, but its not going to undercut the very foundation of republican government. As if that is something that is supposed to make us take up arms. The problem here is that the United States is wearing two faces. Tocqueville and the American Dream are two different things entirely. And this writer is trying to have both at the same time. Either all honest callings are honorable or they are only good inasmuch as they allows the person to progress in status. And our nation as a whole has progressed so far that we can now say that there are certain occupations that are beneath us. And we can all pat each other on the back because we earned it through hard-work and determination.
I'm not really sure what my point is here. I would like to hear what you guys may have to offer on this topic, but I will leave you with this little tidbit that came to mind when I read this article. Watch all the way until the end:
P.S. If America has a democracy Bible, Tocqueville is the gospel writer and the Federalist Papers are the epistles. Am I right?
posted by Qahal at 10:19 AM
2 Comments:
Some jobs are more honorable than others, it is just that you have it backwards. In the grand scheme of things, the most honorable work is physical labor and working the earth. You know what Kevin Rawley said when asked who inspired him to become a carpenter: "I'd have to say Jesus. He was a carpenter and I figured if you're going to follow in somebody's footsteps, why not the steps of our lord and savior?" Of course, the problem is that you make a lot more money doing jobs such as lawyering. I probably would have never went to law school if I could have supported my family on the wages I was earning as a hotel janitor. Unfortunately, I could not make it happen, which I why I sold out to the man and found myself in this less-honorable career.
Don't think that I am some sort of "social science holds the key to happiness" kind of guy, but Veblen's theory of the leisure class explains this phenomenon pretty well.
He takes tocqueville as quoted and shows the shift in America to the self-made man, rags to riches nonsense of the early 20th c. I wonder if the counter-culture of the 40's, 50's, and 60's could be traced to a reaction against the self-made "tycoon" of the earlier decades.
If the Fed papers are scripture, that book should be an exegesis on the social background of the writing. And then the book of mormon could be thrown in as a historical piece on how you can't trust people in large groups.
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