On the topic of corporate Stockholm syndrome is-at least in America-the tying of health insurance to employment. That only changed in the last decade, and even still the ‘benefits’ offered by jobs aren’t perks as much as they are necessities - ones that the government has delegated to private companies.
This is, I think, one of the most barbaric practices we have: that your ability to protect your health hinges upon your commitment to be a corporate laborer.
I’m a huge fan of the show, and I remember watching season one thinking it was just a sharp parody of corporate America. But then, after those first few episodes, when Helly makes that choice (no spoilers), the tone completely shifts. That’s when it hit me, this isn’t just about office culture, it’s about something much deeper, it really gets to deep issues of identity, autonomy, ethics and more. Loved your take on this.
The way in which we have forcefully shaped ourselves to fit the system rather than the other way around, will always baffle me.
I do believe that we are approaching a breaking point when it comes to this level of corporate control and tyranny. People are starting to wake up. The pandemic was the push that awakened us from our collective slumber. We gained flexibility around where and when to work. This allowed us to question just how much we had lost in this transaction with our employers.
Now, we see wide-scale pullbacks on these freedoms. It has even happened to me, a complete revocation of perks that had become normal aspects of working life. pushing me to a point of no return.
I am working on a piece very similar to this one and am happy to see other bright minds tackle this issue. It is imperative that we get this right, not just for the sake of our own souls but for all of the souls who have yet to enter this world.
We need to spread these ideas like wild fire. We need to build working lives that are built around who we are, what we need, and what our talents render us capable of. Work should be a source of pleasure, personal development, integration, and fulfillment. Work will always persist but NOT in the form it has taken over the last 50 years.
This presents a problem, but I’d like to ask: what is the solution? How does a society without these problems look? How is the economy and food security and overall health in that society—a society where we have joy, genuine laughter, communicative speech, and genuine pain? Does such a place already exist and can I go visit it?
Europe has this to different degrees in different countries. But there is no "perfect" version.
France is pretty close. It's a country where people - at least on paper - can be seen as working to live, instead of living to work. Best exemplified by their legendary long lunchbreaks with wine. They still have some problems though.
Greece had very lax attitudes to work, and a lot of opportunities for living instead of working. They also had rampant corruption, end eventually had to be bailed out by the EU.
Scandinavian countries have very good opportunities for work life balance, but the Lutheran "work ethic" is often so strong that people chooses to work themselves to death like Americans anyway. I used to do this, but crashed. Now I focus more on living than working.
All these countries have socialist (as Americans call it) policies, where a large percentage of tax money is used to take care of the people in society who are not necessarily "earners". A lot of these "non-earners" do contribute to life in other ways though. Some of them are (of course) just a waste of potential and oxygen (I sometimes wonder if I am one), but that is an acceptable price to pay for having the others:
- Artists, musicians and other creatives who makes cool stuff but no money.
- Caretakers and volunteers.
- People with interesting dreams that they can never quite seem to get working but who still tries.
- The local "character" who has been on drugs since the 70s and is somewhat of a criminal to support his habit, but who is quite nice and everyone knows about to some extent.
For many years I to feel bad because I didn't have a paid job. As we needed to relocate every 3 or 4 years to different countries due to my husband's work, I couldn't work in those places (only ocasionally). So I dedicated my time.to.study new things and to know better those countries. I read now tons of interesting books, I'm learning to play guitar, I ride horses and learn dances for excercise, and take care of my house. So, finally I realized that my life is better because my time is mine (ocasionally I have worked but only part-time and I'm my own boss).... so I prefer this .. really is a more fulfilling life than being inside an office. Every society must have artists, volunteers, caregivers, gardeners, etc. , because they give joy to society. We should have less people who work at offices and factories and more people that dedicate their life to create a more beautiful environment.
Thank you for writing about this. I find the series incredibly difficult to watch, there’s more horror in it than your common horror show, at least in my view.
See, I have also felt that regarding work and I feel restless and no matter how much you change the job, that emptiness is still there. By emptiness I mean meaninglessness. There’s not much that feeds a person in a job other than a paycheck, which is barely doing it sometimes.
It’s not only an interesting series, but it shows so much about our own lives that are very similar to it, which is daunting indeed. Let’s hope we can somehow see through it and become more humane in the process.
It’s bringing to mind the difference between 1984 and A Brave New World and how complete the Entfremdung/Alienation is in the latter.
Being called Severance is clearly a black humour play on words;
being fired or being cut-off but who is doing cutting-off?
The dark and frightening underbelly of the show is that the Severed have chosen to do this awful thing *to themselves* largely because their lives outside of work are so painful.
We’re left with the conclusion our personal lives are so hollowed out and empty (Frankls nöetic vacuum) that our only refuge is to work inside anti-human corporations which play-act caring and meaningful relations.
Fortunately there are those of us who simply can’t do that and I hope they form the vanguard of the revolution of mind , body and spirit which humanity so desperately needs.
I served 20 years in the military and 23 in a nonprofit. I worked hard, never advanced much in either organization, and never felt like the article describes. Is it because I knew I wasn't making someone else rich? Or because I tried to focus just as much on the family and home?
On the topic of corporate Stockholm syndrome is-at least in America-the tying of health insurance to employment. That only changed in the last decade, and even still the ‘benefits’ offered by jobs aren’t perks as much as they are necessities - ones that the government has delegated to private companies.
This is, I think, one of the most barbaric practices we have: that your ability to protect your health hinges upon your commitment to be a corporate laborer.
I’m a huge fan of the show, and I remember watching season one thinking it was just a sharp parody of corporate America. But then, after those first few episodes, when Helly makes that choice (no spoilers), the tone completely shifts. That’s when it hit me, this isn’t just about office culture, it’s about something much deeper, it really gets to deep issues of identity, autonomy, ethics and more. Loved your take on this.
The way in which we have forcefully shaped ourselves to fit the system rather than the other way around, will always baffle me.
I do believe that we are approaching a breaking point when it comes to this level of corporate control and tyranny. People are starting to wake up. The pandemic was the push that awakened us from our collective slumber. We gained flexibility around where and when to work. This allowed us to question just how much we had lost in this transaction with our employers.
Now, we see wide-scale pullbacks on these freedoms. It has even happened to me, a complete revocation of perks that had become normal aspects of working life. pushing me to a point of no return.
I am working on a piece very similar to this one and am happy to see other bright minds tackle this issue. It is imperative that we get this right, not just for the sake of our own souls but for all of the souls who have yet to enter this world.
We need to spread these ideas like wild fire. We need to build working lives that are built around who we are, what we need, and what our talents render us capable of. Work should be a source of pleasure, personal development, integration, and fulfillment. Work will always persist but NOT in the form it has taken over the last 50 years.
Very well put - I just commented almost exactly this - before reading your comment.
I firmly believe that labour is an integral part of what it is to be human if we can find meaning in the work it won’t feel like a job.
I have a kind of personal motto -
More work, less job.
But your comment has helped me tweak it -
Less job , better work.
This presents a problem, but I’d like to ask: what is the solution? How does a society without these problems look? How is the economy and food security and overall health in that society—a society where we have joy, genuine laughter, communicative speech, and genuine pain? Does such a place already exist and can I go visit it?
Europe has this to different degrees in different countries. But there is no "perfect" version.
France is pretty close. It's a country where people - at least on paper - can be seen as working to live, instead of living to work. Best exemplified by their legendary long lunchbreaks with wine. They still have some problems though.
Greece had very lax attitudes to work, and a lot of opportunities for living instead of working. They also had rampant corruption, end eventually had to be bailed out by the EU.
Scandinavian countries have very good opportunities for work life balance, but the Lutheran "work ethic" is often so strong that people chooses to work themselves to death like Americans anyway. I used to do this, but crashed. Now I focus more on living than working.
All these countries have socialist (as Americans call it) policies, where a large percentage of tax money is used to take care of the people in society who are not necessarily "earners". A lot of these "non-earners" do contribute to life in other ways though. Some of them are (of course) just a waste of potential and oxygen (I sometimes wonder if I am one), but that is an acceptable price to pay for having the others:
- Artists, musicians and other creatives who makes cool stuff but no money.
- Caretakers and volunteers.
- People with interesting dreams that they can never quite seem to get working but who still tries.
- The local "character" who has been on drugs since the 70s and is somewhat of a criminal to support his habit, but who is quite nice and everyone knows about to some extent.
This 🙌🏼 This is fantastic.
Probably the best post I've read this week
For many years I to feel bad because I didn't have a paid job. As we needed to relocate every 3 or 4 years to different countries due to my husband's work, I couldn't work in those places (only ocasionally). So I dedicated my time.to.study new things and to know better those countries. I read now tons of interesting books, I'm learning to play guitar, I ride horses and learn dances for excercise, and take care of my house. So, finally I realized that my life is better because my time is mine (ocasionally I have worked but only part-time and I'm my own boss).... so I prefer this .. really is a more fulfilling life than being inside an office. Every society must have artists, volunteers, caregivers, gardeners, etc. , because they give joy to society. We should have less people who work at offices and factories and more people that dedicate their life to create a more beautiful environment.
Thank you for writing about this. I find the series incredibly difficult to watch, there’s more horror in it than your common horror show, at least in my view.
See, I have also felt that regarding work and I feel restless and no matter how much you change the job, that emptiness is still there. By emptiness I mean meaninglessness. There’s not much that feeds a person in a job other than a paycheck, which is barely doing it sometimes.
It’s not only an interesting series, but it shows so much about our own lives that are very similar to it, which is daunting indeed. Let’s hope we can somehow see through it and become more humane in the process.
I really enjoyed your article.
It’s bringing to mind the difference between 1984 and A Brave New World and how complete the Entfremdung/Alienation is in the latter.
Being called Severance is clearly a black humour play on words;
being fired or being cut-off but who is doing cutting-off?
The dark and frightening underbelly of the show is that the Severed have chosen to do this awful thing *to themselves* largely because their lives outside of work are so painful.
We’re left with the conclusion our personal lives are so hollowed out and empty (Frankls nöetic vacuum) that our only refuge is to work inside anti-human corporations which play-act caring and meaningful relations.
Fortunately there are those of us who simply can’t do that and I hope they form the vanguard of the revolution of mind , body and spirit which humanity so desperately needs.
I served 20 years in the military and 23 in a nonprofit. I worked hard, never advanced much in either organization, and never felt like the article describes. Is it because I knew I wasn't making someone else rich? Or because I tried to focus just as much on the family and home?
Damn dude Adam Scott is looking old
What do you say to the idea of people working for things like charities or working and dedicating themselves to other 'moral' goals?
Just curious even though I do agree that work has taken over- the classic idea that people live to work rather than work to live
Cue Robert Pirsig’s quote on insanity and religion..