Unemployment

I do not have a job, which means that i am classified as "unemployed". Although i am eager to make some money so that i can pay my own bills and live on my own, i am relatively comfortable with being unemployed for a little while. It allows me the space to spend more time with family and friends and to build relationships that may lead to interesting and creative job opportunities.

But "unemployed" has become a dirty word in America. It stirs up ideas of poverty, laziness, and free-loaders who do not contribute to society. We have come to believe that one of the principal characteristics of responsible citizenship is getting paid to do a job. The type of work that one does, the integrity with which that job is performed, and the job's effect on the overall quality of life are all of secondary importance; the most important thing is that one is working. The economy must continue to expand and everyone must do their part. One gets the sense that we can label ourselves anything except unemployed: student, artist, freelance writer/consultant, intern, self-employed, etc. What's wrong with being unemployed?

I suppose a lot of it comes down to presentation and semantics. The only money i have earned in the last two months is from participating in scientific research studies (and a couple of dollars from this blog) but i could justifiably call myself an artist or a freelance writer or a spiritual advisor or a research assistant or any number of other things. But this doesn't change the fact that i am unemployed because nobody pays me to work for them. Even participation in paid research studies is considered voluntary with "compensation" taking the place of a working wage. (Wouldn't it be great if we reframed "work" as volunteerism with compensation? On second thought, that doesn't really evoke the capitalist spirit, does it?)

I am enjoying my period of unemployment. I like exploring the many avenues of opportunity and envisioning myself as a writer, teacher, waiter, stock broker, accountant, computer consultant, or university student. But, at times, i feel overwhelmed by the emphasis on specialization in the job market and in American culture generally. It seems that in order to be successful one has to demonstrate expertise in a particular field. And if your expertise is not commonly recognized then you are encouraged to create your own field: a field where you specialize in being yourself!

I have mixed feelings about the move toward ever-increasing specialization. On the one hand it is a perfect parallel to the growth of a decentralized and pluralistic society. Everyone is different and our differences should be reflected in our culture and in the marketplace. How wonderful it is that there are so many ways in which people can earn a living instead of having to conform to a few standard career models! With specialization, people can find job opportunities that are best suited to their age, education, health needs, family demands, transportation access, and many other highly-specific conditions. More and more we find that instead of structuring our lives around our job, we are finding the jobs that best fit into our lives.

The downside of specialization is that employees are hired only to perform certain tasks or fulfill certain roles with little or no consideration for the general impact that they will have on their working environment. The maturity, integrity, and sense of responsibility of a prospective employee is not as important as his or her punctuality. His ability to work well with others is not as important as her ability to type 100 words a minute. With specialization we tend to reduce people to their "marketable skills", ignoring their more human qualities and forcing them to work in a robot-like capacity where the only real concern is the completion of the set task.

Ideally, i would like to find a job where the quality of my character is valued as much as my intelligence and expertise. But how many employers are looking for workers with "good character"?! Isn't there something wrong with that??