Tag Archives: work

No Work

April 27, 2012

What we’re leaving behind today, at record pace, is what­ever belief we might once have had in the value of unstructured time: in the privilege of contemplating our lives before they are gone, in the importance of uninterrupted conversation, in … Continue reading →

Posted in briefly noted | Tagged , ,

iWork

March 8, 2012

“Today, Apple unveils the new iPad. If it is like Apple’s past products, it will be a sleek, gorgeous gadget, hand-assembled by underpaid workers forced to put in illegal and dangerous amounts of overtime.” -SumofUs, in their demand that Apple release … Continue reading →

Posted in briefly noted | Tagged ,

Straight Out of Antiquity

November 8, 2011

There’s no calls for some sort of post-industrial personal fulfillment in their labor – very few even invoke the idea that a job should “mean something.” It’s straight out of antiquity – free us from the bondage of our debts … Continue reading →

Posted in briefly noted | Tagged , ,

Devil’s Bargain

July 6, 2011

“What we have in academia, in other words, is a microcosm of the American economy as a whole: a self-enriching aristocracy, a swelling and increasingly immiserated proletariat, and a shrinking middle class. The same devil’s bargain stabilizes the system: the … Continue reading →

Posted in briefly noted | Tagged , ,

All Ye Good Citizens of America

June 30, 2011

The competent systems managers who went to the good schools, those of us now so consumed by our busy lives, are responsible for maintaining the panopticon of modern American culture, in which we can all see the goal, but we can’t see each other. Continue reading →

Posted in essays | Tagged , , ,