Wednesday 13 April 2011

Thinking On The Right


There is an aspect of the current “cuts” dealio that people have not considered. By people I mean those opposing the cuts, not those pushing for them. In essence, it’s this: they are getting rid of those jobs that “lefties” could do with a clear conscience. Or this: “they are eliminating those jobs for which having “leftists” ideas wasn’t an obstacle". Because of this: “what they want is for everyone to have “Right” values, because those are the only kind you can have while doing your job”. In other words:
“Most jobs require people to display “Rightist” values, and those jobs which people with “Leftist” values could do are being eliminated. The net result will be that if you want a job, you will have to think like the “Right”".
This isn’t so much a plan of their actions, but a template to understand the cuts from a different angle. If you are a teacher, you can be a “Lefty” and think of your job as socially necessary, and the result from your job as contributing to the social good. Similarly if you are a nurse or a librarian. Even a lecturer, to some extent. However, if you are working for a private corporation, you will have to adopt “Rightist” values in order to do your job. 
This is exactly what those on the "Right" want. Talk about the cuts being "politically motivated". 
Personal Example. I was working in a coffee shop, from one of the “big corporations”. I probably won’t need to say that I was the only one with Leftist politics there. Truth be told, I’m usually the person most to the Left in miles and miles around. But it was astonishing the degree to which everyone else managed to justify their work as a “good thing”, and the actions taken by the company as right and proper. There as this one girl, the one closest to the Left from everyone else. She was young, just like most of the people working there. Whenever I questioned the actions of the company, or those of the manager, she would reply “if you had a business, you would do the same thing”. The clue is in the question. I don’t have a business, and I don’t do the same thing.
Even though this girl was slightly to the Left, when it came to our workplace, she adopted “pro-business” values. And the Left cannot be Left if it embodies pro-business values.

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