The Old Woman. Work, Contribution, and Societal Value.

Image by L Gould on Pixabay

There was a time when somebody might have observed that a stay at home mom didn’t work. As a stay at home dad, I have firsthand experience regarding this concept. You do a lot, but you don’t get paid for it. It’s the job that’s not really a job, but that’s not what this is about. Not really.

I mention moms, and dads, because that’s one place where work isn’t valued, at least not financially. Most people will, sometimes grudgingly, accept that the work does, however, have a value you need to measure differently.

You’re still contributing. You’re still working.

To tell the real story I’m dancing around, let me just add that working doesn’t necessarily equate with contributing to society. An American anthropologist named David Graeber, who died in September 2020, published a fascinating book called “Bullshit Jobs” back in 2018, where he argues that something like half of all work is pointless. Meaningless. Soul-sucking. As a result, these jobs contribute nothing of value to society and may, in fact, do more harm than good, certainly on the person who goes to work knowing their job is meaningless.

Recently, I posted another story about, among other things, the need for a way to recognize the contributions a person makes doing ‘non paying work’. These might be volunteer workers…