Be that
academia, employment, what it takes for someone to be considered worthy of
existing in the modern, capitalist world.
I remember, while finishing my
masters, my supervisor suggesting I should expand my dissertation into a PhD. I said I didn’t
want to. Said to him and to others, all sorts of reasons I’d go back to my
country, instead of staying in the UK. The truth is, I wanted to, but I couldn’t.
I didn’t lack the mental capacity. But I was afraid I’d lose interest too soon,
I’d find what I’m researching vain too soon, I’d believe that none of this
really matters too soon – I was already thinking that way.
What if your
mind works exceptionally, what if your research skills are amazing, what if you
have a great imagination, what if you can think in and outside the box, what if
you’re resourceful and inventive, but! But, there’s this big wall in front of
you at all times, between you and everything you want to do; if you can feel remotely comfortable
that what you want to do, is actually
what you want to do. Even if what you want to do, would be considered a “fun”
activity and not a drag, not an obligation. What if you have so much to give,
but you can only give it in different ways, different schedule, if you need a
different assistance and you don’t
need the assistance normally in place? What if you live in a society where
conformity is not just the norm, it’s an absolute, crushing imperative, outside
of which you become a liability? Can you get included? Is it “profitable” for
this society to discard you? What if you need a more “humane” environment to
function? Not out of quirk but out of real necessity? And, aren’t academia and
businesses missing out, when out of conformity to a production line mentality, they
exclude so many bright minds and talents and ideas? Wouldn’t diversity benefit
progress in the mid run? Isn’t it short sighted to exclude potentially valuable
contributors with alternative views and ways, for the sake of immediate ease
and habit?
How we could
accommodate these people into society, academia and the workforce? I don’t have
ready answers, I’m writing as these questions pop. Maybe by actually valuing human life and human
condition, for starters. By recognising that human beings are not machines, who
obtain value by contributing to the financial part of the economy and whose
value increases or decreases relatively to their contribution. Maybe by
respecting the need for a life outside of the workspace, the right for a life outside of the
workspace. Maybe by respecting that work should be rewarded, as a basis, with
enough for someone to meet all obligations, have some quality of life and feel
secure. Maybe by allowing for flexibility in terms of timetables, or regarding
how one might go about producing a result. Maybe by removing “winkers”, valuing
an open discussion. Maybe by, in capitalist terms, admitting how much it costs
to exclude so much valuable “workforce”, while, at the same time, rolling a big
financial burden onto social and healthcare services (wherever they are still
in place). At the end of the day, it wouldn’t be “special treatment”. It would
really be an equal one. I’m not writing about offering perks to the non-conforming
pariahs. I’m writing about expansion and inclusion, about welcoming as many as
possible to participate. Basically, about a society. Or just another utopia*..
*(yet not in
such an elaborate way, regarding this short text)
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