Work

Physical labor is rapidly giving way to circuitry. A worker pounded my asphalt driveway today with an iron bar to dig a fence post hole. He had forgotten his jack hammer. The thud and scrape of iron against asphalt seemed alien, even though I did the same labor as an adolescent. 

What are the implications for us as a species if we become distanced from gravity and muscular force when labor is required to fix or improve things? The current exploitation of desperate immigrants to do physical labor may continue for a while. Inevitably, cost-effectiveness will most likely diminish the demand for them as well. 

Post-apocalyptic movies usually have a scene in which survivors of the destruction of a high-tech civilization have trouble figuring out how to do some simple domestic task. They stare at basic plumbing with gaping curiosity or wonder aloud about how primitives once had to flick on a light switch. Is this really a reach of science fiction.

Looking at videos about the rest of the world, the low-tech world, isn't encouraging. While physical labor as a fact of life is still quite real in the developing world, the lack of resources for a burgeoning and impoverished human population in mega-cities leaves little to be admired. I watched a recent documentary about the capital of Uganda. Not an inspiring advertisement for low-tech existence. 

Some friends have been amused over the years by my determined routines of listing successive projects, sweeping sidewalks and cleaning my house. My European cultural background conditioned these behaviors in me from an early age. Every day I set aside time for some form of physical labor. This is how I get things done and maintain what I have. It is a practice which has served me well physically and financially. 

My heart sinks when I meet some of the young laborers who do contract work today. It is not a matter of their pay level. In fact, some of them are paid quite well. I often see a defensiveness in them which tells a tale of feeling "less than" in the eyes of a technologically obsessed society. Others inspire great respect. They carry themselves with the confident self-esteem which comes with mastery. They know the worth of their labor and its products. In the event of a devastating catastrophe, they are the people who mean the most in a society. That hasn't changed.