Holy crap we’re almost done the series! Through Pirates and Message Runners, University Professors and Fox News Fact-Checkers, and Singers and Searchers of the Dead we have explored myriad kinds of work and how these historical jobs impact communities. Sort of. Other times we rambled about tenure and the coming Plague. Sorry about that. On to the next two jobs!
Best. Job. Ever. Number 2!
A Person Who is Born into Wealth & Title could be a King, Queen, Sultan, Baron, Emperor, Chief, Landed Aristocracy, or a trust fund baby from Connecticut. For over a thousand years you’ve just flat-out been better than everybody else and, depending on the century, you have represented one – or several – deities here on planet Earth (thanks for that, by the way). Be it nation or fiefdom or Galactic Empire you are the final word on the economy, religion, the environment, human rights, and how many servants you can ethically sleep in one bunkbed. And all you had to do to get here is be yourself!
Summary of Academically Sound Findings and Analysis:
PERSON BORN INTO WEALTH & TITLE
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LOW |
MEDIUM |
HIGH |
TOTAL: |
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| Level of Hardship | If hardship is deciding which food to throw away or weave even more gold into your clothing then your life is hard!
In the past, you have also used people as footstools, sacrificed virgins, and started your own church. |
From time to time there are peasant uprisings, pesky Bolsheviks, Maoists, or Cromwellians who try to spoil your pageant. Just all in a day’s work. | 5/5 | |
| Opportunity for Advancement | You can’t really get much higher than King, right? | Advancement can mean taking over another Kingdom, which means raising taxes, putting pikes into your serfs’ hands and sending ’em into battle with hopes of achieving more land and title. | 4/5 | |
| Meaningful Nature of Work | Sooner or later, ribbon-cutting and holding hands with American Presidents who want your oil must get a little boring. | Back in the day (or in Saudi Arabia right now) you derive meaning by weilding exceptional power. | 4/5 | |
Worst. Job. Ever. Number 2!
As a Politician, you have chosen to pursue a career in an ongoing righteous popularity contest that brings out the worst in people. From towns to nation-states, from the French Revolution until the 2012 Palin-Trump ticket, politicians have dug up dirt, slung muck, filibustered decent bills, perpetuated planet pillaging, and been Rob Ford. Recent findings show that most of them have nightmares about their work and that they aren’t always sincere in their promises. To quote Sir Winston Churchill: “It has been said that democracy is the worst form of government except all the others that have been tried.” And the politicians make this worst form of government work…for…us…
Summary of Academically Sound Findings and Analysis:
POLITICIAN |
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LOW |
MEDIUM |
HIGH |
TOTAL: |
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| Level of Hardship | Your entire working existence is one big peasant uprising!
People are skeptical of you and your values when you start your career and downright hate your guts when you finish it. In between, you are raked through muck by your colleagues, misinterpreted in soundbites and probably get caught breaking the law. This being said, the kickbacks are pretty sweet. |
1/5 | ||
| Opportunity for Advancement | Your belief in democracy advancing merit, not legacy or title, is contradicted by your knowledge that money talks and Canada only has, like, eleven female MPs.
It’s still about who you know and playing the game. |
2/5 | ||
| Meaningful Nature of Work | Self-interest (of yourself and your political party) defines your work. Being re-elected is, therefore, more important than passing career-crippling, yet world-saving, climate change legislation. | From time to time you fight tyranny, deliver social justice, innovate, and/or appear on The Daily Show. These meaningful achievements are few and far between, though. | 2/5 | |
Reflections on these Jobs
GODFREY: We will see in the next installment how slavery and the freedom to explore bring out the stark differences in two dramatically “professions”. When it comes to politicians, they don’t break with their historical antecedents. Being a politician can often seem like the historical evolution of absolute power, just by a different name. While the Obamas, Sarkozy’s and Suharto’s don’t rule by divine right, but rather the ballot box, let’s face – it their power is still largely absolute. They also still l live in palaces….I’m just saying….
JOHN: These jobs deserve each other. And, somehow, even though they’re different they really seem really similar. I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again – mostly because it really annoys Kurt – but Johnism is the only answer to the problems presented by these two examples of the bankrupt and broken way our world is governed. Or isn’t.
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Suharto ruled by the ballot box?!?