xt-remarks “label =” Remarks “> (She) The education that I have received is all prepared for work. And some people are also exerting their residual heat after retirement, and they will continue to work for life. From From this perspective, In modern society, work defines you .
However, as we enter the fully networked 21st century, we suddenly see a change in the way humans work. The following phenomena continue to shake our belief in workplace values:
—— Working opportunities seem to be decreasing all over the world . The population explosion is a cause, and a large number of highly educated youths are entering the job market. Another reason is automation and intelligence, which greatly reduces labor requirements. Take supermarkets as an example. With the popularity of smart payment systems, the number of supermarket clerks can be reduced by more than half.
—— Iterative updates of knowledge are accelerating . Due to the rapid development of network media and related technologies, the efficiency has indeed been greatly improved, which also means that a group of aging knowledge workers may lose employment opportunities. In particular, the knowledge structure of many workers cannot be updated, causing an insurmountable “capacity panic”.
—— High-intensity employment mode . 996 has gradually become the norm, and professional workers have been domesticated as corporate warrior models. “Either you can’t find a job or you’re squeezed out.” This is the dilemma of youth employment today. The cruel employment pattern has led to the sacrifice of personal life in order to adapt to a highly competitive environment.
—— Structural unemployment . In some fast-paced companies, middle-aged unemployment has become a structural problem. This has nothing to do with the level of effort, it is more a kind of malice for older workers. When an enterprise grows to a certain scale, naturally advocating efficiency, it will eliminate backward production capacity. And a large number of workers are considered to be “lagging production capacity” because of higher salaries, diminished energy, and family distractions (even if they used to be loyal to the company with 996) < / span>, resulting in layoffs. A lot of work (including skill work) has become “youth rice”. This “middle-aged crisis” slowly turned from anxiety into reality.
These phenomena constitute the news landscape of our society: Workers get up earlyDark, wind and rain, and always involuntarily, even contrary to wish . For example, this summer’s song that was popular all over the country sang, “Friends who can’t see each other, some are fallen, some are crazy, some are gone with the wind.” Drifting and withering everywhere, this seems to be a portrayal of the workplace.
Some people categorize failure as individual effort, but this is inevitably a bit simplistic. There are many excellent people who are in trouble in the workplace, including 985 masters and doctors, as well as “old rivers and lakes” who have had brilliant practical experience. Some of them also fought in extreme ways and made headlines, such as the Chinese-American Facebook employees who had recently made a leap in the United States for the University of Zhejiang. Half a lifetime of hard work still failed to get him through the calamity of middle age smoothly. After such an event has become universal, it already has sociological significance—it points to, What stage is our society in, and how should workers position themselves?
二
We must recognize that we are entering a post-industrial era that looks beautiful but is actually barren .
The industrial system society, which was established in the 18th and 19th centuries, has gradually finished half the game, and large-scale labor-intensive production has passed. Sociologist Durkheim (Durkheim ) once proposed, This large-scale industrialization provides society with an “organic solidarity”, allowing professional workers to form a unity in accordance with their own industry-such as colleagues, peers, etc., and constitute the industry consensus of the current society.
However, with the deepening of automation and artificial intelligence, as one of the most important job providers in the society, the factories that can provide jobs have greatly reduced. Moreover, not only factories, but many large enterprises created based on “organic solidarity” are also quietly changing their business methods and abandoning the “heavy” part of the industry. Industries such as innovation, culture, service, and finance relying on the Internet are considered to be representatives of the new economy and the entrance to the post-industrial era.
This post-industrial era, despite being environmentally friendly, convenient, and “light”, has even created some shocking wealth myths, but it also breeds extremely high risks. U Baker (Ulrich Beck) once predicted the risk of this working system, so he proposed in his work “Risk Society” that Industrial society is dying out and a new “risk society” Highlight .
This society is becoming highly uncertain, and the accustomed traditional lifestyle is getting farther and farther away from us.
In academic discussions, although risks are often used in issues such as health and environmental protection, it cannot be denied that the risk of unemployment is also one of the most anxious sources of modern people. In particular, uncertain working conditions and highly intense competition for talent make the workplace a high-risk area. Even adequate education may not reduce this workplace risk.
Can the new economy avoid this risk? The answer seems to be no.
Although we can see that some netizens have achieved wealth freedom through online performances, more online writers, UP hosts, and anchors are still tepid, and it is extremely difficult to realize wealth. This is a passive Status- Labour cannot be realized .
This is in a completely different logic from the piece-rate wage distribution according to work in the industrial age. Many middle-aged people envy the way young people make money in the online world, but then again, these jobs are all “less than 40 years old.” Even the hottest Internet celebrity, how long it lasts, how many years it can be, I am afraid it is a question mark. When these young people enter middle age, I am afraid they will also experience the pain of transformation.
In the post-industrial era, it is actually difficult to replicate mass production in the industrial era. When collective production gave way to atomic small workshops, when the “emancipation of people” was realized, it also meant people have entered a suspended state .
What are the characteristics of the floating state? It seems that everyone can easily find a job, but they do not know where the future lies.
A few years ago, a large number of idle laborers entered the ride-hailing industry and became Didi drivers. However, once the platform changes, such as the change in the sharing of interests, the fate of many people may change. “Didi is not a long-term solution”, many masters have told me once. But what is the long-term strategy? The large working population is chasing after the uncertainty of the occupation.
Humans are animals that require certainty. This seemingly opportunistic but unsustainable “The “post-industrial era” actually did not make a person more comfortable. Instead, it further deepened people’s anxiety. A large number of young people are hovering at the entrance of the new economy, trying to find a way to realize cash quickly; Middle-aged people are trapped in unsustainable development and threatened by unemployment; even the lucky ones who become Internet celebrities are thinking about how to protect themselves after being angry.
Regardless of abstract concepts such as dignity and face, the risk of decay has always existed in a high dimension, which is destructive to personal self-identity .
Is the “post-industrial age” friendly to people?
“Walk and see” is a common countermeasure for modern people. Long-term planning seems useless, career ideals can’t be talked about, and more work shines briefly like a meteor. A large number of people adopt a state of “waiting for help and waiting for the rabbit”, waiting for the paradoxical “wind vent” to come, and benefit in a short-term way.
Three
British scholar Guy Stein (Guy Standing) used “Unstable Proletarian” (precariat, translated as “Piaoling” in Taiwan) This concept refers to those who are entangled by instability, uncertainty, debt and humiliation, gradually lose their culture, Social, political, and economic power, laborers who have fallen into the “abandoned” (denizen) status, and claim that they will become a “new Dangerous Class “.
With the polarization brought about by economic globalization, more and more “floating people” are piled up on the edge of the system. These people who were once “invisible” in society have appeared frequently The populist wave suddenly appeared in the public eye.
They may be lost middle-aged bankrupt , or “Buddha”, “house”, “abandoned” young people who are afraid of competition . They are unwilling to (or not) Gaining stable employment opportunities has been excluded from the mainstream workplace.
From the “yellow vest” movement in Paris to the “fight for 1,500 yen” movement in Tokyo, to the recent “subway ticket evader” movement in New York, the faces of the protesters are often “wandering people” in an awkward position . Take the Japanese bottom movement as an example. Their slogan is, “Don’t be killed by war and capital.” Calling for professional dignity and chance of survival is the inner cry of the wandering tribe.
In the post-industrial era, the number of drifting families has been increasing. They may not necessarily be poor, or they may have made a certain amount of fast money, but this state of hanging and floating is likely to deepen their fears. This post-industrial pain has been alienating contemporary workers. They will feel that they have been abandoned by mainstream society and are not in a channel that continues to rise. While they consider themselves abandoned people, they have a strong anti-social sentiment.
When the order of the modern big factory collapses, the existence of atomicity may not make people more free, but it will make people feel uneasy and distressed .
When sociologist Xiang Min proposed the “work hole” theory, I am afraid that many people overlooked its dual nature: a work hole is a torture, but it is also a destination and a self-recognition. . People are tired from work, but they cannot lose their jobs. For people, work is an “anchor” -like existence, which determines the ultimate direction of people.
The Piaoling tribe is considered by the Constantine to be a “new dangerous class” because they are in the marginal zone and can easily generate anti-social emotions and become angry protesters.
People thought that the “postmodern” life should be an imaginative and humanistic world on the other side, but no one can predict that the wave of populism and anger ahead . The more developed the country and the city, the wandering composition of the “last man” to lose hope, they have become the most extreme destroyers of the bustling city. During the protest movement, they destroyed cities and homes, venting their dissatisfaction with the most primitive violence.
An expert studying artificial intelligence expressed optimism that in the future world, if the work is left to the machine, humans will not need to work. The latter can engage in creative professions such as art and literature. This looks like a great vision, but can these professions bring real benefits? Are there necessarily markets for these works? Furthermore, “the person who is not needed” also becomes “no value””What are their values?” For most people who are only suitable for programmatic labor, what is their future?
The post-industrial era does not have a clear blueprint, so while it brings vision, it also creates panic and anxiety. The more intelligent the technology, the more it becomes a deterministic nightmare. At least, there are signs telling us that less and less work can be done until the age of 65.
The article is from the public number: Everyone-Tencent News (ID: ipress) , author: Ma Liming.