Capitalism Is Killing Humanity
I recently came across this Buzzfeed article which detailed a condition called "burnout". Although it is similar to and is sometimes confused with depression,burnout is specifically physical or mental collapse as a result of overwork or stress which is most of the time attributed to the work environment.
Burnout is recognized as a real condition is some countries like Sweden and Netherlands,which use a mixed economy system instead of a staunchly capitalistic system. These countries even offer treatment by clinicians to help people cope with this work place exhaustion . The World Health Organization however,like most capitalistic governments,does not recognize burnout as a medical condition but choose to use the term occupational phenomenon.
Like mentioned previously on this post capitalism always makes one feel like they are not keeping up enough because that is exactly how the system is designed. The proverbial carrot on a stick analogy works perfectly to give a summary of capitalism. It makes the middle class always want more and how do they get more?The system says by working,working,working until either you cannot work no more or you finally make it.Spoiler Alert,one never reaches that latter goal because that would lead to the total crumbling of the system.
As a result of this never ending urge to "make it",the middle class,with the influence of greedy corporations,works themselves to death,quite literally in some cases,to make it to the promised land. It has gotten to a point where overworking oneself is now a part of human culture. It is the norm and not the exception to see people saying things like "#TeamNoSleep" or "whilst you sleep we grind" because this detrimental lifestyle has been normalized so much to a point that people who don't do it are shunned upon.
The notion held by Baby Boomers and Generation Xers that millennials are lazy cannot be further from the truth. The reverse,that millennials are actually workaholics,actually holds more weight. As this article states,the system requires one to either be a workaholic or go burst. Unlike their parents generation,millenials are faced with adverse economic pressures including an increasingly hostile job market,skyrocketing cost of living and booming of the top 1% at the expense of the middle class.Apart from unfriendly economic conditions,things are also looking bleak generally and they are not looking to get any better with the increasing deterioration of the climate,unhealthy international diplomatic tensions and mushrooming of mental health issues all across the world.
Working anywhere and at anytime including after work hours has become the norm and not the exception. Replying a work email whilst at gym or replying a colleague's Whatsapp text whilst at home with family has been something that is stamped into millenials way of life because it is the only way to keep the boat of living decently afloat.
Anxiety is also rife because,well,that's what happens when you can never feel like you are keeping up enough. If you are one of the lucky ones to actually secure a job,you feel like you have to compensate by overworking oneself because you know how hard to come jobs are nowadays. You seldom ever complain about the work conditions because you know that if you dare do and get let off,there are thousands of others like you who are waiting to get your spot unconditionally.
Because of this ever present anxiety as a result of the absence of financial security,everything that is bad is considered good and all that is good is considered bad nowadays. Terrible habits like overworking are celebrated as a sign of an incredible spirit of the "hustle or grind". Good habits like being able to separate work and family time are shunned upon as signs of complacency and lack of ambition which lead to them adopting a nervous compulsion to overwork themselves because of group think.
Millenials have become work machines and the two sad things is that,firstly,they are not getting paid enough for that role and secondly,they take pride in being these production machines. Social media is also actively contributing to this rot of society.It has become a way for people to illustrate a life they are not living which leads to their audience thinking that they are the only ones who do not have their lives in order and continue to overwork themselves even further so as to compensate,a vicious cycle.
People who portray their lives on social media as the perfect balance of "work hard and play hard" are the biggest envy on the multiple sites. "If i just keep pushing myself more,i will eventually get there too",their followers think,not recognizing that they are,in that process,killing themselves trying to reach a destination which does not even exist.Self destructing so as to give one's followers a showcase of fireworks has become a norm.
The normalization and sometimes even celebration of a destructive lifestyle by corporations is exactly what is wrong with capitalism. Those who hold capital,that is the 1%,will keep milking every single drop of productivity out of the middle class until there is nothing left and it is shameful how they have managed to string those being exploited to actually embrace and celebrate that exploitation.
Unfortunately,burnout is not a passing ailment but a chronic disease and because it is part of the DNA of a global system,it is basically a way of life. As this article notes,there are ways to deal with it but the only way to completely cure burnout will be the fall of this disgusting system of exploitation. Until the day of that revolution,humans,specifically the middle class,will only have to do with that mere treatment.
Burnout is recognized as a real condition is some countries like Sweden and Netherlands,which use a mixed economy system instead of a staunchly capitalistic system. These countries even offer treatment by clinicians to help people cope with this work place exhaustion . The World Health Organization however,like most capitalistic governments,does not recognize burnout as a medical condition but choose to use the term occupational phenomenon.
Like mentioned previously on this post capitalism always makes one feel like they are not keeping up enough because that is exactly how the system is designed. The proverbial carrot on a stick analogy works perfectly to give a summary of capitalism. It makes the middle class always want more and how do they get more?The system says by working,working,working until either you cannot work no more or you finally make it.Spoiler Alert,one never reaches that latter goal because that would lead to the total crumbling of the system.
As a result of this never ending urge to "make it",the middle class,with the influence of greedy corporations,works themselves to death,quite literally in some cases,to make it to the promised land. It has gotten to a point where overworking oneself is now a part of human culture. It is the norm and not the exception to see people saying things like "#TeamNoSleep" or "whilst you sleep we grind" because this detrimental lifestyle has been normalized so much to a point that people who don't do it are shunned upon.
The notion held by Baby Boomers and Generation Xers that millennials are lazy cannot be further from the truth. The reverse,that millennials are actually workaholics,actually holds more weight. As this article states,the system requires one to either be a workaholic or go burst. Unlike their parents generation,millenials are faced with adverse economic pressures including an increasingly hostile job market,skyrocketing cost of living and booming of the top 1% at the expense of the middle class.Apart from unfriendly economic conditions,things are also looking bleak generally and they are not looking to get any better with the increasing deterioration of the climate,unhealthy international diplomatic tensions and mushrooming of mental health issues all across the world.
Working anywhere and at anytime including after work hours has become the norm and not the exception. Replying a work email whilst at gym or replying a colleague's Whatsapp text whilst at home with family has been something that is stamped into millenials way of life because it is the only way to keep the boat of living decently afloat.
Anxiety is also rife because,well,that's what happens when you can never feel like you are keeping up enough. If you are one of the lucky ones to actually secure a job,you feel like you have to compensate by overworking oneself because you know how hard to come jobs are nowadays. You seldom ever complain about the work conditions because you know that if you dare do and get let off,there are thousands of others like you who are waiting to get your spot unconditionally.
Because of this ever present anxiety as a result of the absence of financial security,everything that is bad is considered good and all that is good is considered bad nowadays. Terrible habits like overworking are celebrated as a sign of an incredible spirit of the "hustle or grind". Good habits like being able to separate work and family time are shunned upon as signs of complacency and lack of ambition which lead to them adopting a nervous compulsion to overwork themselves because of group think.
Millenials have become work machines and the two sad things is that,firstly,they are not getting paid enough for that role and secondly,they take pride in being these production machines. Social media is also actively contributing to this rot of society.It has become a way for people to illustrate a life they are not living which leads to their audience thinking that they are the only ones who do not have their lives in order and continue to overwork themselves even further so as to compensate,a vicious cycle.
People who portray their lives on social media as the perfect balance of "work hard and play hard" are the biggest envy on the multiple sites. "If i just keep pushing myself more,i will eventually get there too",their followers think,not recognizing that they are,in that process,killing themselves trying to reach a destination which does not even exist.Self destructing so as to give one's followers a showcase of fireworks has become a norm.
The normalization and sometimes even celebration of a destructive lifestyle by corporations is exactly what is wrong with capitalism. Those who hold capital,that is the 1%,will keep milking every single drop of productivity out of the middle class until there is nothing left and it is shameful how they have managed to string those being exploited to actually embrace and celebrate that exploitation.
Unfortunately,burnout is not a passing ailment but a chronic disease and because it is part of the DNA of a global system,it is basically a way of life. As this article notes,there are ways to deal with it but the only way to completely cure burnout will be the fall of this disgusting system of exploitation. Until the day of that revolution,humans,specifically the middle class,will only have to do with that mere treatment.
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