I sincerely have always believed the Protestant Work Ethic, and particularly the Calvinist suggestion that "work is its own reward," preposterous propaganda designed to serve holders of capital and those in political power.
It requires only the most basic rationality to see right through this narrative/control mechanism. Covid appears to have been the shock of recognition that compelled hundreds of millions around the world out of the self-delusion that frenetic busywork (one is far more productive when not wasting time putting on silly corporate casual uniforms and commuting) is virtuous.
I see these two trends irritating the fuck out of the ole men in monogrammed shirts losing their minds about not having all of their staff walking around the floors of their office buildings:
https://www.theatlantic.com/ideas/ar...rating/620382/
https://www.nbcnews.com/think/opinio...ty-ncna1166861
The second of those links addresses the most important aspect of Covid: Rethinking legacy structures and behaviors.
Why waste time commuting to jobs that don't require it? Why commute when it actually hampers productivity? Why run huge offices with massive carbon footprints just so workers can be seen within them by managers?
(Why does it matter that workers be "seen" working at all? If you give workers tasks, isn't the completion of the task all the proof that's needed?)
Business travel? Everyone likes it now and then... but why is that wasteful expenditure allowed? Other than to provide managers with excuses to see the world?
If it okay to let prisoners out of jail for compassionate release reasons (to avoid dying of Covid), then surely these people are deemed low risk to society. So then why were they jailed for so long in the first place?
If corporate America is truly obsessed with efficiency, and it should be, why do so many legacy behaviors that impede efficiency exist? Maybe because a lot of what we call "work" isn't work at all? Maybe a lot of it is politicking within the office, careerism?
