Working toward self-actualization is not right approach
For some reason, people in the United States believe that the way to achieve self-actualization and fulfillment is through the acquisition of a job. It doesn’t matter what the job is, but it should be one that you love. The reality is that most jobs work to support the system of capitalism. They do not help people to become better people. They just help to pay the bills, and many jobs do not do that very well.
When the economy tanked in 2008 and 2009, people lost their jobs. Many of those were higher paying jobs in manufacturing. The jobs that the economy has regained since then have been in lower paying service sectors.
According to CNNMoney, of the 2 million jobs added in 2013, “nearly 1 million of the jobs have come in relatively low-wage sectors. These include retail, leisure and hospitality, temporary workers and some segments of health care such as home health care and nursing homes. That's almost half the jobs added” (Dec 6, 2013).
This leaves people, who may have been happy with what they were doing, scrambling to find work that will support a lifestyle that they were accustomed to. They work two or three jobs to make ends meet. Those jobs are part time and offer no affordable benefits. Something the poor already knew is something that the lower middle class is finding out.
There are people who do find jobs that they love, but if cultural references like 9 to 5, Horrible Bosses, Office Space and Dilbert show anything, it is that more people find their jobs to be unfulfilling drudgery for the sake of drudgery. After all, how can you find fulfillment in flipping burgers so that a corporation can make the greatest amount of profit possible while you are struggling to feed your family on a daily basis?
When the economy tanked in 2008 and 2009, people lost their jobs. Many of those were higher paying jobs in manufacturing. The jobs that the economy has regained since then have been in lower paying service sectors.
According to CNNMoney, of the 2 million jobs added in 2013, “nearly 1 million of the jobs have come in relatively low-wage sectors. These include retail, leisure and hospitality, temporary workers and some segments of health care such as home health care and nursing homes. That's almost half the jobs added” (Dec 6, 2013).
This leaves people, who may have been happy with what they were doing, scrambling to find work that will support a lifestyle that they were accustomed to. They work two or three jobs to make ends meet. Those jobs are part time and offer no affordable benefits. Something the poor already knew is something that the lower middle class is finding out.
There are people who do find jobs that they love, but if cultural references like 9 to 5, Horrible Bosses, Office Space and Dilbert show anything, it is that more people find their jobs to be unfulfilling drudgery for the sake of drudgery. After all, how can you find fulfillment in flipping burgers so that a corporation can make the greatest amount of profit possible while you are struggling to feed your family on a daily basis?