"everything for everyone; nothing for ourselves!"
today the new supervisor announced that hours were being cut in order to compensate for low revenue. this while he himself had accepted the position only on the condition that the hotel beat the salary of his previous employer. my blood roared and i've been on the war path all day. but what i want to talk to you about are not the particulars of that struggle (at least not in this post), but about something that makes struggle necessary: dignity. this word has gained new life because the zapatistas have become its champions. dignidad. and i want to talk about it because it was the most important thing that i have won in my life and which the exploiters wish to take away from all of us.
when i came in to work today the new supervisor (who can't even pronounce the names of the people whose hours he is cutting) asked me why i was upset. against my calculating judgment, i gave him a piece of my mind. i told him that what was wrong was to make workers suffer for the incompetence of management and the corporate office; that it was unjust to pull the rug out from under people trying to pay bills and support families.
"that's just business," he said. "if i had a car and i put $20,000 into it and i sold it, i'd want to get at least that much back. the point is to profit or at least break even."
"but people are not cars," i said "our value isn't the same."
"value?" he asked dumbfounded. "we're all different, you can't assign everyone the same value. you want everyone to be the same, but they aren't. so there are different values and when money is short, they cut the bottom of the food chain. what do you expect, a cut in corporate salaries?"
"i don't expect a cut at corporate levels, but that is what would be right. and no, people aren't completely the same, but we are all human. i don't want people to be the same, but i do want the same justice for everyone. and it's disgusting to cover your own ass and mistakes by pushing people weaker than you into the mud."
"justice?" he said the word as if i had said i wanted everyone to have a unicorn. "you've got some crazy ideas. look, this is the corporate world. values and justice don't matter. it's about the money."
"no," i replied, "values and justice do matter. the point of values isn't that they will always match the structure of society or profit. the point is holding ourselves to a standard. "
"look," he said "there are only two options. one, you take the cut in hours or two you quit. but things aren't going to change, so why argue about it?"
"because justice and values aren't about winning," i replied with more rage than i've ever felt before. "if i don't stand up for what i know is right, then it doesn't matter what happens because i am no longer a human being." i aimed straight for his heart "if you go along or participate in an unjust system, abandoning any sense of principles, than who are you? trampling on others and making the excuse that it's just the way of things, that's disgusting."
"well, the owners are in their rights..."
"no," i interrupted "they are within their power. but they have no right to something like this. and fuck some legal shit. you know what i mean but we aren't going to agree. let's just see what happens."
that's how the conversation went. but he still wanted to be my friend. he tried talking to me about how when he was driving trucks for the marines in iraq he had bought up iraqi currency on the speculation that it would turn out to be valuable in a few years. he recommended that i go to the airport and exchange some dollars for the dinar. i fired off another round of artillery: "i don't speculate on american imperialism's colonial currencies. i hope the iraqis throw the gov't."
"but why? you could make some money."
"because i'm not going to support the occupation of someone else's country."
"see, there you go again. you're always worried about someone else instead of yourself."
"no," i said, "i'm interested about everybody, which includes me, but i don't put myself before other people."
"what?!? you've got some crazy philosophies!"
i shook my head. so this was the crux of it. a world in whcih to live by justice, to stand for everyone, and to struggle for what is right is considered insane. it is 'rational' to drink blood, to oppress the weak, to 'get over.' well, i may not be able to beat the supervisor and the corporate office, but i know that i have not kept silent. that i have not gone along. that i have made him confront the reality of his immoral greed.
i intend to organize to fight with power. but i do not think it is a small thing to take a principled and dignified stand. whether or not we win, we will keep our dignity and we will present a different possibility for how human beings can live. and i realized, more clearly than ever, that this is why i have chosen NOT to pursue 'upward mobility'. i don't want a mgmt position or the responsibility for enforcing profit interests through firing or cutting hours because i think it endangers one's dignity and commitment to justice. and it is simply not worth the trade. as subcomandante marcos says
"dignity is the only thing that must never be lost, ever."
today the new supervisor announced that hours were being cut in order to compensate for low revenue. this while he himself had accepted the position only on the condition that the hotel beat the salary of his previous employer. my blood roared and i've been on the war path all day. but what i want to talk to you about are not the particulars of that struggle (at least not in this post), but about something that makes struggle necessary: dignity. this word has gained new life because the zapatistas have become its champions. dignidad. and i want to talk about it because it was the most important thing that i have won in my life and which the exploiters wish to take away from all of us.
when i came in to work today the new supervisor (who can't even pronounce the names of the people whose hours he is cutting) asked me why i was upset. against my calculating judgment, i gave him a piece of my mind. i told him that what was wrong was to make workers suffer for the incompetence of management and the corporate office; that it was unjust to pull the rug out from under people trying to pay bills and support families.
"that's just business," he said. "if i had a car and i put $20,000 into it and i sold it, i'd want to get at least that much back. the point is to profit or at least break even."
"but people are not cars," i said "our value isn't the same."
"value?" he asked dumbfounded. "we're all different, you can't assign everyone the same value. you want everyone to be the same, but they aren't. so there are different values and when money is short, they cut the bottom of the food chain. what do you expect, a cut in corporate salaries?"
"i don't expect a cut at corporate levels, but that is what would be right. and no, people aren't completely the same, but we are all human. i don't want people to be the same, but i do want the same justice for everyone. and it's disgusting to cover your own ass and mistakes by pushing people weaker than you into the mud."
"justice?" he said the word as if i had said i wanted everyone to have a unicorn. "you've got some crazy ideas. look, this is the corporate world. values and justice don't matter. it's about the money."
"no," i replied, "values and justice do matter. the point of values isn't that they will always match the structure of society or profit. the point is holding ourselves to a standard. "
"look," he said "there are only two options. one, you take the cut in hours or two you quit. but things aren't going to change, so why argue about it?"
"because justice and values aren't about winning," i replied with more rage than i've ever felt before. "if i don't stand up for what i know is right, then it doesn't matter what happens because i am no longer a human being." i aimed straight for his heart "if you go along or participate in an unjust system, abandoning any sense of principles, than who are you? trampling on others and making the excuse that it's just the way of things, that's disgusting."
"well, the owners are in their rights..."
"no," i interrupted "they are within their power. but they have no right to something like this. and fuck some legal shit. you know what i mean but we aren't going to agree. let's just see what happens."
that's how the conversation went. but he still wanted to be my friend. he tried talking to me about how when he was driving trucks for the marines in iraq he had bought up iraqi currency on the speculation that it would turn out to be valuable in a few years. he recommended that i go to the airport and exchange some dollars for the dinar. i fired off another round of artillery: "i don't speculate on american imperialism's colonial currencies. i hope the iraqis throw the gov't."
"but why? you could make some money."
"because i'm not going to support the occupation of someone else's country."
"see, there you go again. you're always worried about someone else instead of yourself."
"no," i said, "i'm interested about everybody, which includes me, but i don't put myself before other people."
"what?!? you've got some crazy philosophies!"
i shook my head. so this was the crux of it. a world in whcih to live by justice, to stand for everyone, and to struggle for what is right is considered insane. it is 'rational' to drink blood, to oppress the weak, to 'get over.' well, i may not be able to beat the supervisor and the corporate office, but i know that i have not kept silent. that i have not gone along. that i have made him confront the reality of his immoral greed.
i intend to organize to fight with power. but i do not think it is a small thing to take a principled and dignified stand. whether or not we win, we will keep our dignity and we will present a different possibility for how human beings can live. and i realized, more clearly than ever, that this is why i have chosen NOT to pursue 'upward mobility'. i don't want a mgmt position or the responsibility for enforcing profit interests through firing or cutting hours because i think it endangers one's dignity and commitment to justice. and it is simply not worth the trade. as subcomandante marcos says
"dignity is the only thing that must never be lost, ever."
3 comments:
it was great of you to confront the boss as you did. surely it inspired some co-workers, scratched their consciousness kernel a little. the whole world is full of people quietly suffering, sometimes with no options and too many risks in challenging conditions. but for us it's always a struggle, with no turning back.
stay militant and true
stand!
also an insight into the warped worldviews that allow people to squash others. all that "human nature is to squish" stuff is really just a "i want to squish, but i don't want to be accused of squishing... i'm just passing the squish along."
some crazy philosophies.
bless you, do.
venceremos!
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