Yes, people really do want to work

There’s a phrase that gets thrown around frequently that hits a nerve every time I hear it. “People don’t want to work anymore.” Each time I hear it, it’s said in this ignorant, derogatory tone that doesn’t come with any thought or factual information to back it up.

The phrase gets thrown around as if people are lazy and incompetent. But I think it highlights much larger issues within our society right now.

Now, yes, there’s probably a few bad apples here and there who don’t want to work.

But for the majority, I think people do want to work. They want to learn, build great things, create good relationships and contribute in ways to help themselves and businesses succeed.

What people are doing is rejecting a broken way of working that leads to burnout.

People are tired, overworked, underpaid and one emergency away from being completely broke and losing what little they have left.

I think people are sitting in this space of having to work to support themselves and their families, while also just craving time and energy to actually live their life.

They want to live and experience the amazing things we have in this world instead of just waking up, going to work, making dinner and going to bed, just to repeat it all the next day.

Throw kids in the mix and the rest of what little time there is in the schedule is pretty much dedicated to them and their activities all while trying to make sure you’re raising quality humans.

People don’t want to continue sacrificing themselves for a small paycheck, but they’re put in a position where they don’t have a choice a lot of the time.

The system has been set up like this to keep us all in survival mode. If we’re stressed and trying to stay above the surface, a lot of us don’t have the energy or the time to stand up and advocate for actual change that is needed.

We’re in this loop of making sure we can pay for gas, rent and groceries. Let’s hope no one has a health emergency because here in America we have higher ups who still think healthcare isn’t a human right.

I don’t care what your political affiliation is, healthcare shouldn’t be something that any of us have to worry about.

The system is broken.

Dr. Charles Mosher wrote a really great opinion piece which was published in last week’s edition about why healthcare is so expensive in the U.S.

If you haven’t read it, it’s another good read about how health insurance is a scam and doesn’t benefit anyone like it should.

It’s highway robbery.

Also, because of the raise in costs for literally everything, companies, especially smaller businesses, are forced to downsize and cut corners to stay in business.

This puts more responsibilities on the employees that remain. Quality of service also begins to go out the window.

Employees are tired of doing the jobs of three people for the salary of one. They want clear roles and fair pay that matches their actual effort.

The process of applying for a job is insane these days. The requirements for an entry level job often require a college degree for a low-level wage.

It’s basically as if getting a college degree doesn’t give you the step-up as it once did.

Having applications online has streamlined the process in a lot of ways but it also has taken away the personal aspect.

Many applications go straight into the trash because they go through a filter that rejects certain words.

That’s disheartening. How many applications go in the trash without even being read or looked at by a human, just AI?

The personal aspect is gone. The statement “People don’t want to work” sounds kind of contradictory when so many resumes and applications have gone in the trash without a thorough look….or even a quick conversation on the phone to get a better idea of the person who is applying.

In the past we were taught to call a few days after applying. Think you can get someone on the phone these days? That’s a hard no. Or you leave a voicemail and never get a call back.

Not to mention, a full-time position is also hard to obtain because most companies are required to offer insurance and benefits.

Hiring someone as a part-time employee eliminates that.

People do want to work. Many have multiple side hustles and part-time jobs to stay afloat.

I’m sure if you ask some of the classified employees within the school district, you’ll hear some courageous and creative stories of how they’re making it work just to stay here.

My point to all of this is, can you imagine what people would do and create in this world if they weren’t in survival mode all the time?

There’s so much opportunity that just gets squandered because people are put in this semi-permanent tired mode.

If everyone had the opportunity to be secure in their living situations and could get to a point where they could do the things they love…the results would be absolutely incredible.

I think we’ve all seen both extremes. Humans can be the absolutely terrible scum of the earth, but they can also be the most beautiful, creative, empathic and kind creatures.

Our society seems to circle back every few years into the same crap where egos go unchecked and we’re dealing with money hungry politicians who don’t do their jobs, they just aim to line their pockets.

It’s been how many years? We’re still arguing about whether gay people have a right to live their lives, women and people of color are treated as less than in almost every aspect in our society.

Has discrimination come a long way? In some ways yes. But in others…it’s just gotten worse. People will say, “it didn’t use to be like this.”

Yes it did, we just have cell phones now and people are recording it.

I read recently that there are a few countries who have been able to come up with medical treatments which prompts the body to regrow teeth. How amazing is that?

But over here in the states we’re still arguing over our guns and whether healthcare is a right, or whether people can be in same sex marriages.

It’s interesting to think of what could be if we had a government and a society that supported everyone and not just a select few.

Amanda White is a staff writer for the Mariposa Gazette and can be reached at amanda@mariposagazette.com.