Tuesday 2 May 2000

Pic of the day: STRESS! Incidentally, also the theme of this issue of Psychology Today, though there is lots of other stuff too. Like a "special section" on natural herbs and stuff, where there are small articles praising various stuff and then ads for the same stuff, all mixed together.
Will you give us your technology of Manned Space Flight in exchange for Editorial Integrity?

At least I hope that's what it is. I do feel a bit restless lately. Not quite as happy as I used to. It is harder to concentrate. And stuff is eating away at the fringes of my body.

For instance in the weekend I examined one of the toes on my right foot for rifts or sores, because it hurt like that. I found nothing. But the sensation has spread, and now my lower leg hurts. There is no discoloration or other sign of a physical illness, though, so I am forced to believe that it is (at least mainly) psychosomatic. Of course, body and soul are really two sides of the same coin ... no, not really, they're the metal and the imprint of the same coin. Anyway, a malfunctioning soul will make its body malfunction too, or the other way around, unless compensated for. It is hard to tell where a small problem comes from, body or soul.

So I'm slightly worried, restless and unconcentrated and just the tiniest bit lonely, I guess. Not like "running out to buy a puppy" lonely, but like "not minding terribly if someone sent an e-mail" lonely...

Tomorrow is the start of the strike. Just to clarify, I'm not the one on strike. I don't even endorse strike as a tool in an advanced society such as ours. It's fine by me if the workers quit their job, when they are not satisfied with the wages or working conditions. But it should be for real. The management should have the option of reviewing their applications for re-hiring, and perhaps replace some of them with more cost-effective employees. Now that would make people think twice. If they really are so indispensible, they would have nothing to lose, now would they? And if they are not, then they should meekly accept what they get. It's a labor market, people. Labor is bought and sold. If your labor is not very valuable, upgrade its quality.

Yes, you may be able to squeeze out more money by cooperating with your buddies and put pressure on the company or government branch you work for. This is what trade unions is all about. But there is a price to be paid. Eventually the workplace will disappear. The goose that laid golden eggs was perhaps not slaughtered, like in the fairy tale. But it was over time stressed to death. Obviously, this works both ways. An employer who treats the employees like shit, will eventually only have shitty employees. Such does the laws of nature work. The labor market is not a solid rock, it is plastic. It molds itself over time, like some extremely slow fluid flowing from the least attractive to the more attractive.

So you see, I do not approve of strikes. It is an idea whose time has come and gone. Once, a strike was a dare, you left your job because you could not stand it anymore. Now it's like a habit and you never get enough. In the major labor conflict here in Norway this spring, there is literally no one who can say for sure what the strike is all about. The unions have not put forth any concrete demands, just asked the employers to put a better bid on the table. That's not impressive. And taking to the streets with signs reading "NO to moderation" is not very helpful either.

Of course, a likely reason for the strike is the general pissed-off-ness at the wild hikes in leaders' salaries, bonuses and fringe benefits. It is not smart to say that the company just can't afford to pay any more ... and then give yourself a few millions for no obvious reason. It may be the American Way of Life, but this is Norway and people will not stand for it. Sow wind, reap storm.

You know, if I am indeed stressed (and not just harboring some infections or something) then it just might be because I do stuff like the above. See? I just can't stay in my own body. I must absolutely take on the job of the Oversoul. This time I stayed national, at least, more or less. (Not that it would not apply to other advanced economies as well.) Often as not I'll roleplay the Planetary Mind or whatever, keeping a watch on the world economy, the world ecology, and the general process of human psychogenesis. Oh well. Overall, I like it! :)

I was born like this, I had no choice
I was born with the gift of a golden voice
and twenty-seven angels from the great Beyond
they tied me to this table right here, in the Tower of Song.
( Leonard Cohen, Tower of Song)

But right now I'm feeling small and just a little bit afraid.