Hey, I don’t want to be defeatist, I struggle with being defeatist.
In my effort to be positive I will say yes absolutely we are seeing organized labor making huge gains and that is wonderful.
We are still losing horribly at the moment though. I envy people who have genuine hope, but I just feel broken. I have never had a non-seasonal job that treated me with any sense of decency nor paid a living wage (enough to even consider not living with my parents). I graduated from college only a couple of years after the 2008 financial crash and my experience in life since then has just been increasingly half-heartedly trying to open locked doors while being harshly judged by older people who grew up with open doors everywhere (judgement which had material impacts on my opportunities). I realize that it is a failure of my life experience to feel hopeful but I can’t really help it. “fake it til you make it” about feeling hopeful or confident in yourself has never worked for me.
I guess I just share that to say just because the acceleration is in the direction of labor and worker organization doesn’t mean the momentum isn’t still fullswing towards a capitalist hellscape of austerity. Everyday I try to dismantle the framework of bullshit I learned growing up but at the end of the day it feels like scratching at rock walls with my finger nails. The momentum is horrifically incredible.
I can definitely see how that experience for that long would get anyone down. But I do believe you can do it. Just keep knocking on those doors and eventually one will open.
The thing about the advice to keep hopeful and confident is that interviewers will decide based on their impression of you - you have to “fake it till you make it” enough to motivate yourself to stay in the race and to get past that all important interview.
Even the crap jobs that get you down, try to look on them as opening that door. No you shouldn’t expect more out of a place treating you like crap, but if you do find that door opening to greener pastures, you want to look like a good worker well worth their investment. You can do it
Hey, I don’t want to be defeatist, I struggle with being defeatist.
In my effort to be positive I will say yes absolutely we are seeing organized labor making huge gains and that is wonderful.
We are still losing horribly at the moment though. I envy people who have genuine hope, but I just feel broken. I have never had a non-seasonal job that treated me with any sense of decency nor paid a living wage (enough to even consider not living with my parents). I graduated from college only a couple of years after the 2008 financial crash and my experience in life since then has just been increasingly half-heartedly trying to open locked doors while being harshly judged by older people who grew up with open doors everywhere (judgement which had material impacts on my opportunities). I realize that it is a failure of my life experience to feel hopeful but I can’t really help it. “fake it til you make it” about feeling hopeful or confident in yourself has never worked for me.
I guess I just share that to say just because the acceleration is in the direction of labor and worker organization doesn’t mean the momentum isn’t still fullswing towards a capitalist hellscape of austerity. Everyday I try to dismantle the framework of bullshit I learned growing up but at the end of the day it feels like scratching at rock walls with my finger nails. The momentum is horrifically incredible.
I can definitely see how that experience for that long would get anyone down. But I do believe you can do it. Just keep knocking on those doors and eventually one will open.
The thing about the advice to keep hopeful and confident is that interviewers will decide based on their impression of you - you have to “fake it till you make it” enough to motivate yourself to stay in the race and to get past that all important interview.
Even the crap jobs that get you down, try to look on them as opening that door. No you shouldn’t expect more out of a place treating you like crap, but if you do find that door opening to greener pastures, you want to look like a good worker well worth their investment. You can do it