Work ‘till you drop. Stop. Drop. Get up. Do it again.

[kpete]

September 5th, 2011 10:55 AM
Worker’s Ode to Labor Day 2011
By Donna Smith

Work ‘till you drop. Stop. Drop. Get up. Do it again.

Work. Be grateful to be working. Work harder. Work ‘till you drop. Stop. Drop. Get up. Do it again.

Give up time with growing children. Work. Keep bills paid. Years pass. Chances pass.

Work ‘till you drop. Stop. Drop. Get up. Do it again.

Get older. Get scared to work less hard. Work harder.

No time for neighbors, community, friends, or the laziness of leisure. No riches. No home left.

Work ‘till you drop. Stop. Drop. Get up. Do it again.

No savings. No pension. All spent staying barely healthy enough to work harder.

Holidays a time for silent desperation. Alone. Or maybe go to sales at the stores where workers are working ‘till they drop, reminders of just another working day in America.

No job. Lost. Shame. Bills never stopping. Work somewhere, work anywhere, do anything. Stay alive.

Work ‘till you drop. Stop. Drop. Get up. Do it again.

Rich people and bosses have no guilt about holidays, no fear in a nap.

Work ‘till you drop. Stop. Drop. Get up, get up, get up, get up. Do it again.

Pay your taxes. Pay your bills. Pay their taxes. Pay their bills. You’ve lost everything that you valued anyway. Loser. Loner. Lazy. That’s how the power class sees us all. We are tools of their American dream and the fools who lost their own. They are smarter than we. Whoopee.

Labor Day? Why are you not working? No job? Lost it? A day off? Why are you not working? At least go buy something that will swell the profits and power of those who find us all so pliable, so pitiful, so workable. Listen for the call. It may be the need for profits calling. If so, get up. Now.

Work ‘till you drop. Stop. Drop. Get up. Do it again. Then stop. When you finally expire – literally and figuratively. Unless the wealthy and the powerful figure out a way to prolong our lives a little longer to make a few more dollars as they inject us with pain killers and tranquilizers so we cannot even scream on the way out of their profit-making agendas.

Labor Day? That’s all day, every day, in every way. America has no holidays. And certainly not for workers or those who wish they were. We are someone else’s holidays.


http://www.michaelmoore.com/words/mike-friends-blog/workers-ode-to-labor-day-2011

[Kath1]

1. Work ‘till you drop.

Absolutely right. I was off today but glad to say I didn't buy shit. Work your ass off and have management breathing down your neck for more. I think everyone is getting really sick of it. I'm in my fifties and working more now than ever.

[Curmudgeoness]

2. This reminds me of stories of my grandfather

who worked in a tin mill. He often could not make it home and would drop in the yard or street when his shift was over, and my grandmother and the kids would have to help him get into the house. And he was grateful for a job. We are a sick society when we do this to people just trying to survive life.

[RagAss]

7. "we" don't do this to people. The Fucking rich do this to us !!!!

[Curmudgeoness]

8. You are right. I know that I could never live with myself, and

there are a lot of people in the world who also could not. "we" is my way of saying "this society".

[Claudia Jones]

47. the "sick society"

The "sick society" you see is not the cause of the problems, it is the effect.

[truedelphi]

38. And it sure don't matter which set of rich people we vote for.

If they have a "R" after their name, we are screwn.

If we have a "D" after their name we are screwn.

Progressive parties that may be formed are infiltrated as soon as they gain some headway.

And if all else fails, then the voting machinery is set up to help the PTB keep control.

[Curmudgeoness]

58. Options? Don't depress the hell out of me without giving me options.

I don't disagree with you, I just keep searching for a way to deal with this.

[truedelphi]

62. October 6th 2011.

Washington DC.

Hopefully enough people will show up and it will mean something.

[Curmudgeoness]

63. I am hoping to attend, but doubt it will do a bit of good.

I have been there too many times, with huge numbers of people. Over and over again. But hope springs eternal.

[MrMickeysMom]

19. Yes, we are a sick society, alright...

I know hard work feels good, but life is nothing if it is only defined by work.

My question is why people haven't thought more about this. Why procreate and want to build a "family" if life can't be experienced as it once was here and still is in other countries. My nephew and family living in another country are able to live more sane lives. I'm sure other countries look at what has happened to the middle class over the last 30 years here and shake their collective heads.

Something has failed and it's made very clear now.

[Curmudgeoness]

59. Hard work doesn't feel good if it kills you. But yes,

something has failed, and it is time that we show our power. Hell, the middle class and working class and poor are here in such huge numbers. We just have to realize that we do have power. We have been knocked down for so long that we don't believe it anymore.

[pepito]

3. this is what my friend

in Fl. does,She works at Walgreens 8.10 an hr.She usd to run a country club that went bankrupt.On her day off she sleeps.She is 55.She is a shadowof her former self.always exhausted

[peacefreak]

4. I just worked day #7

on the way to day #11 in a row. And on the 12th day? I don't plan on getting out of bed. This is life???

[DesertFlower]

23. i did the same thing and then i'd take a day off

and crash. sleep -- turn off the phone and shut out the world.

[MineralMan]

5. I'm self-employed. I can choose whether to work and when not

to work. If I work, the bills get paid. If I don't, they don't. The equation is simple. I work 7 days a week always. I don't take days off. Sometimes, I take a few hours off to do something else. Then, I go back to work.

I've been self-employed since 1974. There it is.

[pepito]

6. wow

sounds like a great life

[MindPilot]

14. I hope you really enjoy what you do! n/t

[HughBeaumont]

15. See, that's just something people say that simply isn't true. Whatever this is, it's NOT simple.

If it WERE simple, everyone would be doing it and there's a myriad of reasons everyone ISN'T participating in this "ownership society" crap.

What would my product or service be? Who would my audience be? With what money would I start this business with? How would I pay for advertising? Would I make enough to pay all of my bills? When you own a business, your income isn't set in stone - some months you'll be making around $200, some others you'll be making $1000, if that. What will I do that a corporation/large player couldn't easily undercut me on costs and shipping? How will I afford health care costs? What if I get so burnt I just want to take time off sometime? How am I going to be the one to beat the 1 out of 10 startup success rate? You cannot say "just, plain and simple, work really really HARD" because there are probably more than a handful on this board alone that have gone through the ringer and will tell you that such Horatio Alger yarns are nothing but homespun BUNK. If hard work was all it took to be successful in life, then why are so many people NOT successful?

I relate to Donna Smith's tale of how Capitalism never got out of the plantation model of running things and have turned all of their existing labor pool into scared mice-like drones ever running on a treadmill to nowhere until they ungraciously get kicked off and tossed in the barbecue pit. Technology was supposed to make our lives easier and instead has just piled more work on the already overworked without hiring any new workers.

It's almost as if corporate America's power brokers really don't WANT anything but a zero-sum environment between them and us. Maybe it's high time everyone had a serious discussion as to why the modern corporate environment doesn't work for the average Joe and Jane anymore. It could start primarily with mandated time off, universal health care and universal education.

But that sort of Commie nonsense takes money away from rich people getting richer and the MIC's adventures of choice. Plus it gives workers an atom speck of power, and we certainly can't have that.

[pepito]

16. for the John Wayne types

everything is so simple/
ya know pick youslf up b y your bootstraps etc:shrug:

[Patiod]

28. The health insurance thing is a HUGE barrier to self-employment

Nice rant, HB. And that's from someone who is trying to make a go of it self-employed.

[area51]

30. +1 n/t

[femrap]

32. I read somewhere that

the Plantation owners were getting tired of housing and feeding their slaves...so setting them 'free' was an OK idea after all.

After we pay our rent, utilities, and food bills with little to no raise in wages since the early 1970's, we're pretty much done for.

Tax the Rich Like Eisenhower Did! WORKERS UNITE!

[Hydra]

52. That was the essence of the Civil War, actually

The North had figured out a better way of doing slavery- wage slavery. The people still practicing traditional slavery didn't get it until emancipation...slower learning curve, so to speak. The could hire the same people to do the job, pay them less than the previous cost of buying/upkeep, and they would DEMAND to work. If the person died, so what?

Ironic, no?

[femrap]

55. Someday I hope that the

greedy learn the meaning of hunger.

I just got back from seeing 'The Help.' What a great portrayal of Jackson, MS during the early '60's. At least in the movie, Justice Prevails.

[Claudia Jones]

45. excellent repsonse

Thanks for that.

[Javaman]

35. More words of wisdom from mineral man...

:eyes:

[Lorien]

37. That's pretty much true for all of us who are self employed

Every day is a work day. No vacations, no holidays, no sick leave, no health care, no unemployment insurance.

[Nostradammit]

39. Wow! you are amazing!

13,505 days without a day off!

More people should be like you, MineralMan.

[SammyWinstonJack]

41. ...

:evilgrin:

[Claudia Jones]

44. thanks

That explains the political positions you take.

[Rex]

49. 'If I work, the bills get paid. If I don't, they don't.'

That kinda applies to everyone and I question why you felt like you had to defend yourself over a silly song. I don't believe you about working 7 days a week without fail since 1974. Good luck with retirement.

[Lucian]

51. Well good for you.

More people should be more like you, working every day for 35+ years. And here we are, bitching that we only want a few weeks off a year so life doesn't pass us by. But that seems to be too much to ask.

We should all strive to be like you. :eyes:

[WinkyDink]

9. Powerful.

[KG]

10. i work 40-50 hrs of drudgery on my feet. 12 more part-time, more drudgery, outside, on my feet.

for 2/3 what i made 3 years ago.

i'm in my 50's.

i'm tired, and tired of it.

[WinkyDink]

60. {{KG}} It's crap for the birds, as my mother used to say. This country is being revealed for what it

is: CRUEL.

Cruel to the less-than-wealthy.
Cruel to innocents abroad.
Cruel to our soldiers coming home.
Cruel to the sick.
Cruel to the poor.
Cruel to the workers.

Slowly, the truth is dawning. Oh, the 9/11/11 to-do will enable the denial for a bit, but the scales are inexorably falling from the citizenry's eyes.

[cyglet]

11. ...because

You too might be rich one day!

[MindPilot]

12. I suppose I should consider myself lucky that I have a job...

It is not unusual for me to doze off while driving on my way home. I don't sleep or eat much during the week, and on the weekends I have no interest in doing anything except becoming intoxicated enough to try to numb the dread of having to go back there Monday morning.

[Raine]

13. and especially no time or energy left for

the person working themselves to death to think ... "there has to be a better way".

[pepito]

17. remember this

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N8RsFwsODzE&feature=relmfu

[ProgressIn2008]

18. Truth here. But what, I wonder, is the appropriate response, if we admit it's this bad? nt

[Claudia Jones]

46. we know what the wrong response is

The wrong response is to compromise with, cater to, bail out, or try to find common ground with our antagonists.

Everyday people are powerless in the face of the assault on us and the environment by organized capital, unless we too organize to fight back.

Our power is in numbers (not votes, since the election apparatus is controlled by our antagonists) and the only way to bring numbers to bear is to organize.

[w0nderer]

20. k&r n/t

[salib]

21. Even my very conservative and religious in laws

Thought it was horrible when I pointed out that I would have to work till I drop. No retirement. Nothing that they now have.

[DesertFlower]

22. i worked and worked. worked as much as i could.

time and one half after 35 hours, double time on sundays, triple time on holidays. i made a lot of money, but then i got sick. did i work too much? i worked in buildings in NYC with recycled air. at age 48 i became disabled.

[davidthegnome]

24. I don't know

When I was a young boy, early teens, I always thought my Father had given up so much by working crazy hours my whole life. On average, anywhere from 80-100 hours per week as a PR director. He missed many things, he rarely had time to relax and always seemed to be in a hurry. Now, as he nears sixty, it hasn't changed as much as it should have. Down to maybe 60-70 hours a week now instead, during an average week. I always swore I would never do that to my family, to my children, or to myself. That I wouldn't get so caught up in work or so in need of money that I had to make so many sacrifices.

Well, now I'm twenty seven. I've had plenty of odd jobs, I've done some telemarketing work, dish-washing for restaurants, census work, a little freelance writing (that really didn't pay well) and even a very short-lived attempt at running my own business. The sad thing is that I know a number of people my age, with college degrees who are doing the exact same work, or worse.

I have a girlfriend who has been my girlfriend for over five years and lives in another state. No marriage possible due to lack of funding - she deserves much better than she gets from me. Call me old fashioned, but I really wish I could give her the fairy tale wedding.

For the most part it's been unpleasant jobs in between lengthy bouts of unemployment. It's no way to live..., if not for my parents I'd have ended up in a shelter or on the street, or worse, years ago.

At this point, I'd be willing to work till I drop if it could pay the bills and help me become independent. I see that as all but an impossibility. There just aren't enough jobs out there aside from the ones that last a short time and/or pay minimum wage or slightly above.

I'm grateful for the good things in my life. But it's entirely likely that I'll lose a great many of them due to lack of resources... given the option, I don't know, I guess I would rather work till I drop.

[barbtries]

25. sounds like life.

get up go to work, come home, collapse. rinse and repeat. i have a good job, i am properly thankful for it. but my sister - who retired at 45 - just doesn't get why when she tells me how happy she is for me, i respond, but you know what, it would be nice to have a life as well.

[woo me with science]

26. K&R

This is, indeed, the plan. We are pushed toward debt from the beginning of our lives. We are mooing resources for the bankers, and they keep us busy in the yoke.

[Name removed]

27. Deleted message

Message removed by moderator. Click here to review the message board rules.

[lonestarnot]

29. K & R!

[undergroundpanther]

31. Reminds me of a dead kennedys song

"Soup Is Good Food"

We're sorry
But you're no longer needed
Or wanted
Or even cared about here
Machines can do a better job than you
This is what you get for asking questions

The unions agree
'Sacrifices must be made'
Computers never go on strike
To save the working man you've got to put him out to pasture

Looks like we'll have to let you go
Doesn't it feel fulfilling to know
That you-the human being-are now obsolete
And there's nothing in hell we'll let you do about it


Soup is good food-(We don't need you any more)
You made a good meal-(We don't need you any more)
Now how do you feel-(We don't need you any more)
To be shit out our ass
And thrown in the cold like a piece of trash
We're sorry
You'll just have to leave
Unemployment runs out after just six weeks
How does it feel to be a budget cut?
You're snipped
You no longer exist

Your number's been purged from our central computer
So we can rig the facts
And sweep you under the rug
See our chart? Unemployment's going down
If that ruins your life that's your problem

Soup is Good Food, Etc.
We're sorry
We hate to interrupt
But it's against the law to jump off this bridge
You'll just have to kill yourself somewhere else
A tourist might see you
And we wouldn't want that

I'm just doing my job, you know
So say uncle
And we'll take you to the mental health zoo
Force feed you mind-melting chemicals
Til even the outside world looks great

In hi-tech science research labs
It costs too much to bury all the dead
The mutilated disease-injected
Surplus rats who can't be used anymore

So they're dumped (with no minister present)
In a spiraling corkscrew dispose-all unit
Ground into sludge and flushed away
Aw geez:.

Soup is good food
You made a good meal, etc:.
We know how much you'd like to die
We joke about it on our coffee breaks
But we're paid to force you to have a nice day
In the wonderful world we made just for you
"Poor Rats", we human rodents chuckle
At least we get a dignified cremation
At yet
At 6:00 tomorrow morning
It's time to get up and go to work



And ever read the abolition of work?
http://deoxy.org/endwork.htm

[krhines]

33. I love the Dead Kennedy's

Aonther good song by the career soldiers "work, consume, sleep repeat"

[Javaman]

36. That whole album was excellent. nt

[alp227]

34. Anyone know that Steely Dan song "Do It Again"?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YJx-coqJl-U

How about this rewrite?

In the mornin' you go workin'
For the man who wants your labor
You get tired before you've done and
Then the boss catches you droppin'
The CEO and his buddies are chillin'
As you dragging along your feet
No time out to be hangin'
'Cause every day the job gets you beat

To home you're back, Jack, and do it again...

[housewolf]

40. Oh wait, you forgot the par t about "go shopping"

Spend all your money. Borrow all you can and spend all that too. Especially in time of recession.

- George W. Bush, circa fall of 2001

[Enthusiast]

42. K&R

Demand that your Democratic legislators act like Democrats by supporting organized labor.

[itsnotaboutu]

43. So Tragically True

The revolution has begun but, are we too tired to join the fight?:hurts:

[RebelOne]

48. I was going to work until I dropped,

but then I was laid off my job in 2010. I was already 70 years old and decided to retire because no one would hire me at this age. If I hadn't been laid off, I would still be working. Fortunately, I have some money in savings and am collecting social security, but I did not want to be forced into retirement

[WillyT]

50. K & R !!!

:kick:

[mstinamotorcity]

53. When you finally expire

those ungrateful mfkrs will cash in on the DEAD PEASANT POLICY for only GOD knows how much....because the insured doesn't.

[YellowRubberDuckie]

54. I nearly had a nervous breakdown last year because of this bullshit.

Plus my boss was just a douche. Apparently the way I worked tirelessly and took up for the department wasn't to his liking. Never knew if I was going to piss him off. A word out of place would piss him off.
He left. Guess what? I'm so much better. But it's probably because of the Xanax and Carafate cocktails I take everyday.
Duckie

[sarcasmo]

56. Sad but true.

[fascisthunter]

57. K & R (nt)

[pacalo]

61. Work TWO jobs 'til you drop.