Introduction to Working, Man
Note: You don't have to identify as a "man" to enjoy this content (hence the comma). But you do have to identify as a worker. This isn't for elitist asshats, politicians, freeloaders, or oligarchs.
To my few but proud subscribers, here’s a new publication (or “newsletter” as it’s referred to by Substack) focused on working people and their many struggles.
I’ll be transparent and say that part of the reason for this new focus is burnout: Following U.S. news as closely as is required to produce quality content for Musings of a Madman should be considered a form of torture. Covering work-related issues seems light by comparison—and it’s cathartic as hell for most, if not all, millennials.
What do I mean? Well, if you’re unfortunate enough to be employed (or, even worse, unemployed like me), my guess is you have at least a few negative feelings about your situation. I will validate those feelings (even the homicidal ones—I don’t judge). If you’re voiceless, I will be your voice. I can guarantee that no matter how bad the feeling or attitude, I have shared it at some point in my 20-plus years of (mostly) unsatisfying work and maddening job searches. I know more about unemployment, especially, than any person should. (I’ve collected benefits in four states.)
Yes, I am a white man with the privilege to write instead of trying to get a real job, but work-related woes transcend race, gender—even class. I know from experience that a high salary does little to free a working person from the capitalist machine. Even if you’re bringing in six figures, this is for you.
On the other hand, if you’re one of those douchey Elon Musk types who love your job so much that you never feel like you’re really working—fuck off. This isn’t for you. You’re either too old and out of touch and/or you’re one of those anti-social upholders of the status quo who make militant labor organizing and revolution all-but impossible. Go read Forbes or the Wall Street Journal instead. Better yet, buy a Cybertruck and drive it straight off a cliff. I can unlock the prison door, but I can’t make you walk through it.
Despite the human need for catharsis (which for me often comes in the form of childish insults and foul language), most of us worker types cover up our pain and oppression. We put on fake smiles and code switch. We know how to keep our mouths shut around the wrong people, who too often include family and friends. For much of modern history, sucking it up (and sucking up) was the expectation—especially for literal working men. My grandfather was a bus driver and electrician, and despite all the loud arguments he had with my grandmother, I don’t recall one complaint about work. Without a high school diploma, he worked his way into the middle-class. He lived the so-called American Dream. But that dream no longer exists for people like my grandfather—or even those with PhDs.
Any contemporary working man, woman, or child who’s honest about our collective plight may put on a happy face at work for the sake of their livelihood, but in safe company they tell it like it is: 21st century capitalism sucks. For most of us it feels like feudalism at best and slavery at worst.
In the introduction to the 2021 book Work Won’t Love You Back, the author, Sarah Jaffe, talks about the modern shift in the Western world from “freedom from” to “freedom to.” In layman’s terms: We’ve become more concerned with what we can theoretically do, buy, become, achieve, etc., than what we can avoid dealing with as citizens of an ostensibly free country. We’re not as concerned that we can fall into unemployment and poverty as long as there’s a chance—no matter how small—that we can become billionaires.
The freedom I care most about is the freedom to be myself and put my skills to good use (for society’s sake) without having to hustle, cheat, lie, prostitute myself, beg, or kiss ass to receive whatever scraps the elites haven’t yet found a way to take for themselves.
The following content will assert and defend those freedoms—for all workers. Welcome aboard!
Send me a private note if you’d like to contribute. Otherwise, like, comment, and (tell others to) subscribe.