Shadow Idol: On things not being where you are sure they are

[silveradept]

Ever walk down (or up) a set of stairs in the dark, or with a full armload of things, and step off the last stair, onto the ground, expecting one more stair? It's very disconcerting. You're certain there was one more stair there, you planned for the being one more stair there, and yet, no stair. Most people can relate to this idea in their lives - planning for a disaster and having it all go quite well, instead. It can make someone feel a bit foolish that they were worried about certain variables and they didn't come into play.

Other people looking at it from the outside might comment about the ridiculousness of the situation, because they could see the want of a stair there, and yet it seemed like someone assumed the was. He's the thing, though. Most people who expect the extra stair usually do so because they've tripped over it more than a few times. The person who is a great worker, but never seems to speak up,and wise ideas always are more popular when someone in Management parrots them? They've hit at least once missing stair, and probably the one called Patriarchy. The missing stair is pretty insidious when it's going to affect someone with regard to their job - it's not possible to watch it for it all the time, especially if you've been dealt a manager that deals in caprice and hearsay. Those people who are forever worried about getting in trouble have probably had the missing stair put in front of them for them to trip, and/or yanked or from under them for them to trip. Creativity suffers in that kind of environment.

If only there were ways of protecting people from those kinds of shenanigans that were easy to deploy and that could swiftly gather the evidence needed to prove the malfeasance. Like a collective group of workers that kept an eye out for each other. And laws that didn't permit employers to fire someone for any reason at all, including the paper-thin disguises that often appeared as proxies for more substantive issues.

If only.

Comments

[3rdofjune]

it's not possible to watch for it all the time, especially if you've been dealt a manager that deals in caprice and hearsay.

Yes, and sometimes just looking out for that step can be the thing that gets you on the wrong side of a manager who "just knows" that you wouldn't be a good fit for their company.

Bitter? Nah. :P

[silveradept]

I detect no bitterness there. Just acknowledgment that some managers are looking for excuses to hurt you, instead of trying to help you succeed.

[tuzemi]

I am very thankful that both of my managers at my current company have very visibly demonstrated a desire for their direct reports to thrive. So much so that I would even consider joining management ranks someday to keep that culture going. It probably helps that the wider organization has both union and non-union locations.

[thewayne.livejournal.com]

I read an interesting article in The Atlantic, IIRC, recently. I believe the title was The New Kochs, and it was about the family behind Amway. Basically they're the movers and shakers behind the move to break up public unions in order to cut funding to the Democratic Party/candidates. One of the major points behind Marxism is the owners having too much leverage/control over the workers, and that leverage seems to be increasing at a frightening rate.

Someone conducted a study recently looking at the wealthiest people in the US and trying to determine how many of them earned it (Bill Gates) vs inherited it (The Walmart Heirs, the Koch Brothers, etc.). It was a disturbing number. In a recent Ted Talk with Bill & Melinda Gates, the Gates said that their children are not going to inherit the fortune of the Gates Foundation, they'll get enough for an excellent education and a start in life, but won't have a gigantic bank account starting out. I think that's good. You definitely appreciate the value of money more when you come from humble means.

Another Marxist proposition, I think from Das Kapital, is that money sitting inert is worthless. It needs to be moving, to be invested in tangible things that produce wealth and goods, for it to have true value. But heaven forbid that people be concerned about the Little People: 'I've got mine, they can earn their own.'

And in another analysis, a kid who is a poor performer in school but from a wealthy family has an 80% chance of going to college, a high-performing kid from a poor family has a 20% chance.

All animals are equal, but some are more equal than others.

[silveradept]

That leverage is increasing, aided by things like "right-to-work" laws and the increased concentration of wealth in only a few people. I suspect that once it became out of the reach of ordinary people to both run for high political office and to become successful in their professions or ideas, it becomes only the province of the rich to make the rules.

I'm not surprised about who goes to college, either - since the same Party of the Rich is busy making sure higher education is ruinously expensive and removing any supports from the government to try and keep those costs down.

[katflace.livejournal.com]

Can't offer any particularly thoughtful comments, but I really like the metaphor you built here.

[silveradept]

Thanks. Glad to know that it's working for you.