I want. I want. I….
In the midst of concerns about the overall economy, the ongoing violence between individuals, ideological groups and nations, and such issues as the exclusionary cost of so called higher education in the United States, I listen to individuals and families talk about their concerns. I also read about such issues as job satisfaction, the search for meaning, the ability to enjoy the luxuries of urban living, the ongoing issues of the gender disparity in pay, dissatisfaction with “the establishment”, the right of everyone to be treated with dignity, more adult children living with their parents, and the increasing rates of addiction.
My head swims attempting to figure out if I am hearing incorrectly, listening to only a small minority, or am hearing the symptoms of collective schizophrenia.
I recently moved to a lovey area in Florida, but soon discovered that it may not be the best location for a single person who enjoys the symphony and other cultural offerings of the theater, museums and ongoing adult education. I am the perfect candidate for downtown living. There are many apartments or condos available in downtown Tampa and St. Petersburgh. There are also a number available in my adopted home city of Pittsburgh, Pa. “So, move already.” one might recommend. I am one of those fortunate people who does not have any debt and who can continue to work part time. I have enough income to live in the modest condo I now own and to pay other expenses including occasional travel to see my son, other family members and friends in the Pittsburgh area. Because of choices I have made to make my services available to individuals and families regardless of how much they can pay, I do not make enough to live in even a modest downtown apartment or condo in any major city. I am blessed to know that this is a result of my ongoing choices. I am hardly a victim and cannot justify a “poor me” attitude.
I know that I have been very blessed to be born in this time and place and with the ability to make job and career choices. I can take no credit for the relatively low cost of education when I attended college, the fact that my brain worked well enough and the fact that I have been free of acute mental illness, addictions or other dis eases which would have prevented me from setting and attaining personal and professional goals.
I have worked at a variety of jobs since I was a young man. These jobs included working in a grocery store, attempting (unsuccessfully) to sell encyclopedias door-to-door, clerking in a men’s clothing store, working in an office clerk position and later an administrative position for a research company, washing cows and doing other jobs for a diary, operating a jack hammer, being an ordained minister, and as a statistician. I also worked as an addiction counselor and as a general individual and family counselor. I have lived in third floor. shared bath walkups, one room apartments, shared housing, a large restored Victorian house, a three room house without electricity or running water with six other people and my current bedroom, two bath air conditioned condo. Sometimes I have made enough money to travel to Europe and sometimes I walked many blocks to avoid paying a nickel transfer fee.
I knew from the time I was a young child that I had to pull my weight in performing work at home By the time I was a teenager I was working outside the home to pay for such expenses as my clothes and other luxuries. I knew when I graduated from high school that I was expected to do something to earn enough money to pay for room and board if I was living with my parents or to pay for my own place to live. I also knew that I was “my brother’s keeper”. Although no one used words such as socialism I knew I needed to share with others.
For better or worse, it was a different time than is is now for those who are or will enter the skilled or professional work environment. Just this morning, May 18, 2016 I was reading an article in the Wall Street Journal by Lindsay Gellman entitled “Helping Bosses Decode Millennials.” (B1, continued on B7). In the article “Millennial expert Lindsey Pollak says that she can teach companies a thing or two about young workers. First, they expect work to be meaningful. Second they crave frequent feedback . Third they despise voice mail.” She is talking about people born in the 1980ies an the 1990ies. The author of the article goes on to say that there are a host of experts who charge as much as “$20,000 an hour” who say that “they can interpret young worker’s whims and aspirations”
I also read an article in the same edition of the Wall Street Journal about the ongoing gender discrepancy for men and women in elite professions “such as doctors, compensation managers and personal financial advisers…” (WSJ, May 18, 2018, A1, Pay Gap Widest for Elite Jobs by Janet Overberg). Among other factors discussed in the article was the ongoing tendency of women to take time off or work shorter hours so that they can spend more time taking care of their family. Other factors quoted included whether one was able and willing to negotiate higher salaries and outright gender discrimination. The difference in salary can be considerable, but in some cases it is the difference between a high income and a very high income (over $100,000.00). There were some careers, such as personal financial adviser, where surveys revealed “men took in about $100,00 while women made about $62,000.” In addition to the issues mentioned above my experience is that many of the women I know have different work habits. For example, many of the females doctors I know spend considerably more time with patients than their male colleagues (I also happen to know some male doctors who intentionally choose to focus on spending more time with patients even if this means less income.)
Yesterday, May 17, 2016 I saw a headline in the Opinion section of the Wall Street Journal (A17) by Bret Stephens entitled “What’s Socialism Dad?” As all my readers know I love it when kids ask such questions. My adopted niece and nephew, Sam and Paul, frequently ask such questions. He says in the article he told his son. “I told him it’s an economic system in which the government seizes and runs industry, sets prices for good, and otherwise dictates what you can and cannot do with your money, and then your life….Here is what I wish I had said: Socialism is a mental poison that leads to human misery of the sort you see in these wrenching pictures (photo what is happening in some hospitals in Venezuela)” The article was essentially a response to the candidacy of Bernie Sanders which he calls the democratic socialism which is “legalized theft in the name of the people against the vilified few.”
Mercy me. I read and listened to much more than these three articles. I also listened to some television news commentary from individuals with widely divergent viewpoint, some TED talks and some commentary on NPR. I also read other news sources.
Is there some common themes or issues for many of us which are not immediately evident. We would need to consider the concerns of those supporting the candidacy of Donald Truth, those who call themselves Tea Party Republicans, those who see themselves as devout, (extremist) supports of the will of Allah, those who represent the Occupy Wall Street group, and the millennials as well as the Baby Boomers. those born after the Millennials, the Hilary and Bernie supporters, and the rest of human kind.
It seems to me that there are some common themes which include:
If I am accurate, we are at an exciting time in the history of we humans. Although many of us may not see that we are asking the same questions and searching for something beyond materialism , we are all asking the Peggy Lee question,
“Is that all there is?”. Many of us may not yet be convinced that we cannot have it all or that the answer is internal and not external, but I fervently believe that we will get there. Sadly, we may have to hit a darker bottom before we are able to experience that epiphany, but I have no doubt that we will get there.
It would be easy to merely react to what seems to be very radical, self-centered, divergent views. It is, I think, more difficult or perhaps it feels more risky to connect at the vortex of that pain and fear –than it is to see that we are expressing the same, deep longing. We may be tempted to convince each other that we do not have much in common but, I suspect, if we just show up with love and listen to the longing beneath the words, costumes and “things we will find that we do have much in common.
Written May 18, 2016
In the midst of concerns about the overall economy, the ongoing violence between individuals, ideological groups and nations, and such issues as the exclusionary cost of so called higher education in the United States, I listen to individuals and families talk about their concerns. I also read about such issues as job satisfaction, the search for meaning, the ability to enjoy the luxuries of urban living, the ongoing issues of the gender disparity in pay, dissatisfaction with “the establishment”, the right of everyone to be treated with dignity, more adult children living with their parents, and the increasing rates of addiction.
My head swims attempting to figure out if I am hearing incorrectly, listening to only a small minority, or am hearing the symptoms of collective schizophrenia.
I recently moved to a lovey area in Florida, but soon discovered that it may not be the best location for a single person who enjoys the symphony and other cultural offerings of the theater, museums and ongoing adult education. I am the perfect candidate for downtown living. There are many apartments or condos available in downtown Tampa and St. Petersburgh. There are also a number available in my adopted home city of Pittsburgh, Pa. “So, move already.” one might recommend. I am one of those fortunate people who does not have any debt and who can continue to work part time. I have enough income to live in the modest condo I now own and to pay other expenses including occasional travel to see my son, other family members and friends in the Pittsburgh area. Because of choices I have made to make my services available to individuals and families regardless of how much they can pay, I do not make enough to live in even a modest downtown apartment or condo in any major city. I am blessed to know that this is a result of my ongoing choices. I am hardly a victim and cannot justify a “poor me” attitude.
I know that I have been very blessed to be born in this time and place and with the ability to make job and career choices. I can take no credit for the relatively low cost of education when I attended college, the fact that my brain worked well enough and the fact that I have been free of acute mental illness, addictions or other dis eases which would have prevented me from setting and attaining personal and professional goals.
I have worked at a variety of jobs since I was a young man. These jobs included working in a grocery store, attempting (unsuccessfully) to sell encyclopedias door-to-door, clerking in a men’s clothing store, working in an office clerk position and later an administrative position for a research company, washing cows and doing other jobs for a diary, operating a jack hammer, being an ordained minister, and as a statistician. I also worked as an addiction counselor and as a general individual and family counselor. I have lived in third floor. shared bath walkups, one room apartments, shared housing, a large restored Victorian house, a three room house without electricity or running water with six other people and my current bedroom, two bath air conditioned condo. Sometimes I have made enough money to travel to Europe and sometimes I walked many blocks to avoid paying a nickel transfer fee.
I knew from the time I was a young child that I had to pull my weight in performing work at home By the time I was a teenager I was working outside the home to pay for such expenses as my clothes and other luxuries. I knew when I graduated from high school that I was expected to do something to earn enough money to pay for room and board if I was living with my parents or to pay for my own place to live. I also knew that I was “my brother’s keeper”. Although no one used words such as socialism I knew I needed to share with others.
For better or worse, it was a different time than is is now for those who are or will enter the skilled or professional work environment. Just this morning, May 18, 2016 I was reading an article in the Wall Street Journal by Lindsay Gellman entitled “Helping Bosses Decode Millennials.” (B1, continued on B7). In the article “Millennial expert Lindsey Pollak says that she can teach companies a thing or two about young workers. First, they expect work to be meaningful. Second they crave frequent feedback . Third they despise voice mail.” She is talking about people born in the 1980ies an the 1990ies. The author of the article goes on to say that there are a host of experts who charge as much as “$20,000 an hour” who say that “they can interpret young worker’s whims and aspirations”
I also read an article in the same edition of the Wall Street Journal about the ongoing gender discrepancy for men and women in elite professions “such as doctors, compensation managers and personal financial advisers…” (WSJ, May 18, 2018, A1, Pay Gap Widest for Elite Jobs by Janet Overberg). Among other factors discussed in the article was the ongoing tendency of women to take time off or work shorter hours so that they can spend more time taking care of their family. Other factors quoted included whether one was able and willing to negotiate higher salaries and outright gender discrimination. The difference in salary can be considerable, but in some cases it is the difference between a high income and a very high income (over $100,000.00). There were some careers, such as personal financial adviser, where surveys revealed “men took in about $100,00 while women made about $62,000.” In addition to the issues mentioned above my experience is that many of the women I know have different work habits. For example, many of the females doctors I know spend considerably more time with patients than their male colleagues (I also happen to know some male doctors who intentionally choose to focus on spending more time with patients even if this means less income.)
Yesterday, May 17, 2016 I saw a headline in the Opinion section of the Wall Street Journal (A17) by Bret Stephens entitled “What’s Socialism Dad?” As all my readers know I love it when kids ask such questions. My adopted niece and nephew, Sam and Paul, frequently ask such questions. He says in the article he told his son. “I told him it’s an economic system in which the government seizes and runs industry, sets prices for good, and otherwise dictates what you can and cannot do with your money, and then your life….Here is what I wish I had said: Socialism is a mental poison that leads to human misery of the sort you see in these wrenching pictures (photo what is happening in some hospitals in Venezuela)” The article was essentially a response to the candidacy of Bernie Sanders which he calls the democratic socialism which is “legalized theft in the name of the people against the vilified few.”
Mercy me. I read and listened to much more than these three articles. I also listened to some television news commentary from individuals with widely divergent viewpoint, some TED talks and some commentary on NPR. I also read other news sources.
Is there some common themes or issues for many of us which are not immediately evident. We would need to consider the concerns of those supporting the candidacy of Donald Truth, those who call themselves Tea Party Republicans, those who see themselves as devout, (extremist) supports of the will of Allah, those who represent the Occupy Wall Street group, and the millennials as well as the Baby Boomers. those born after the Millennials, the Hilary and Bernie supporters, and the rest of human kind.
It seems to me that there are some common themes which include:
- Frequent use of the pronoun ‘I’ even when a member of a movement or group.
- A desire to do something which validates one’s worth and life work.
- A desire to be part of a community while retaining an ‘us’ and ‘them’ stance.
- A separation of life and work (Millennials wants a lot of time off work while wanting meaningful work.)
- Luxurious life (AC or heat, healthy food, and the enough money for smart phones, x-box and other “toys”.
If I am accurate, we are at an exciting time in the history of we humans. Although many of us may not see that we are asking the same questions and searching for something beyond materialism , we are all asking the Peggy Lee question,
“Is that all there is?”. Many of us may not yet be convinced that we cannot have it all or that the answer is internal and not external, but I fervently believe that we will get there. Sadly, we may have to hit a darker bottom before we are able to experience that epiphany, but I have no doubt that we will get there.
It would be easy to merely react to what seems to be very radical, self-centered, divergent views. It is, I think, more difficult or perhaps it feels more risky to connect at the vortex of that pain and fear –than it is to see that we are expressing the same, deep longing. We may be tempted to convince each other that we do not have much in common but, I suspect, if we just show up with love and listen to the longing beneath the words, costumes and “things we will find that we do have much in common.
Written May 18, 2016
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