Vive La Loafing! 649
theodp writes "Bonjour Paresse, an anti-corporation slacker manifesto whose title translates as 'Hello Laziness,' has become a national best seller in France and made a countercultural heroine of its author, who encourages workers to adopt her strategy of calculated loafing in response to dimming prospects of success for rank-and-file employees. Could a translation find a Silicon Valley audience?"
The title is a pun (Score:5, Informative)
John.
Gangrene up on that azz... (Score:3, Informative)
Interesting concept. Of course, I'd have to read the book to get the full explanation of this philosophy, but I think corporatist/capitalist countries have in fact gotten to the point where the corporate culture isn't one where one can aspire to promote themselves, but moreso just make sure that they're going to have a job come tomorrow morning. Business administration seems to have gotten to the point where employees have become so anonmyous and replaceable that, for the most part, it seems no one is encouraged to maintain or even develop a sense of loyalty. Maybe her suggestion to eat out these corporations from the inside could prove to light a fire under their asses. On the other hand, as I think anyone can attest to being displayed in the past, it will most likely just instill the people in charge to take away more and more rights and benefits from the employees as a means to counter-act the half-assed work they're getting in return for paying out salaries. Ah well, the door swings both ways it would seem. I guess it'd just be safe enough to admit that we're all pretty much fucked.
Re:Ah the French... (Score:5, Informative)
A much more informed view of "Europe vs. USA" can be found in a recent Economist. There's a multi-page special on the subject that boils down to:
1. USA has higher GDP/capita than EU, but
2. USA and EU have similar GDP/capita growth rates (in fact the same if you eliminate Germany which is having to cope with unification). How about the US tries merging with South America?
3. GDP/work hour is similar in USA and EU
4. US citizens have higher disposable income than EU citizens because US citizens work 40% more hours, i.e. EU citizens have same productivity as US, but work less hours, hence lower GDP/capita. Or to put it another way EU citizens have traded GDP/capita for leisure time, US citizens work much more and hence buy more stuff (TVs, cars,
So there's no fundamental difference in GDP/work hour or productivity between the two federations. Europeans just take more time off, which might have a lot to do with the better health and better life expectancy in the EU. US citizens work like crazy and hence can afford houses stuffed with electronics, appliances and multiple cars.
I assume that you are a US citizen, perhaps you'd like to spend some of your disposable income buying the article here.
John.
Re:Caffeine (Score:4, Informative)
Re:Close, but misses the mark (Score:3, Informative)
That's one hell of a sweeping generalisation.
Although this is more true of Europe than the USA, it is not true of all jobs (especially IT jobs), nor is it true of all countries.
Economist link (Score:5, Informative)
John.
Vive la SI!! (Score:5, Informative)
Re:Slacker Thee (Score:2, Informative)
Unions got you the 40 hour work week, vacations, unemployment insurance, work-place safety, end of child-labor, end of the 16 hour mandatory work day. The worst thing for the economy has been the decline in worker power in the last 30 years. It has allowed concentration of wealth at unprecedented levels.
The scariest thing is that the people who regularly get screwed in this economy believe the bull**** that justifies their own screwing.
Read "Strike!," "Which Side are you on?" and "Rivethead"---learn something about history, and stop repeating the Pravda-esque ideology of the Heritage Foundation, Cato Institute, and the
Republican and Democratic parties.
Eventually "white collar" workers will realize that unions are the only way to resist. Until then "take stuff from work"--read Guy Debord and the situationalists--and work as hard as **you** think you are being paid to work.
Good US Gov report regarding Productivity (Score:3, Informative)
Re:Close, but misses the mark (Score:3, Informative)
No it isn't.
USA: Unemployment 6.2%, GDP per capita $37,800
France: Unemployment 9.6%, GDP per capita $27,500
Germany: Unemployment 10.7%, GDP per capita $27,600
Those numbers are from the CIA World Factbook [cia.gov]. Obviously the details fluctuate, but you get the idea.
Re:Slacker Thee (Score:3, Informative)
Wow, that's quite an attack on American institutions. It would be absurd in and of itself. However, as this was a story about a French woman upset with the French socialized work place, your comments are even more out in left feild. Did you read and comprehend the article?
Re:Slacker Thee (Score:3, Informative)
You don't know the half of it. Kids would drop out of highschool at 16 and go work for one of the autobuilders. They didn't need math, science, french or anything but a pair of hands and could do the job. It was called 'skilled labor' which really translated to someone who could do a repetitive task once it was demonstrated to them, no thinking involved. One income, with overtime (which funded much of the development of cabins, boating, etc.) could buy a house, put kids (those who didn't follow in dad's footsteps) through university and afford a cabin, boat and so on up north. It really was the good life on very little education. Quite the culture shock when they found other people in the world could do the same job and would do it for a fraction without making lots of demands of their employers. It created a lot of resentment, too, but not enough introspection.
I remember Owen Bieber making a speech, broadcast over WJR, where he refused to give the companies what they demanded and made lots of promises to the workers in the UAW. Probably 1 in 10 of those jobs exists today. Not only did mexicans and japanese take a lot of work, but many jobs moved to more centrally located areas, like Kentucky and Tennessee, where organized labor wasn't as strong and couldn't insist upon re-hiring workers who couldn't operate robotics or anything which required tradeschool classes or such.
Re:Please follow her advice. (Score:5, Informative)
And, no I'm not bitter. I was being funny.
I think this post has gone to +5 faster than any other post that I've made, so I seem to have touched a nerve. The truth is that this work experience, as well as others, has taught me a lot.
Looking back at my young self, I have to laugh. I expected to be a)noticed then b) appreciated then c) rewarded for being more diligent and hard working than the other guys. Well, the plan fails at step A. Very few bosses notice when anything happens unless it is bad and requires their attention. People don't go to boss school and learn how to run an efficient organization. By in large, bosses are consumed with their own day to day concerns and as in the dark as anyone else as to how make things run better. They'll piss away all the staff time and let the place turn into an unsafe stye, then deal with accidents and curse the slow response time when crunch time comes.
The lesson is: when you are the situation of having to manage yourself, then you are also in the position of having to manage your boss. Bosses love to have somebody tell them what needs to be done, as long as it doesn't sound like your are telling them what to do. I call this "Boss Management", and key is bringing things to the boss's notice. This is how the older, wiser me would handle this situation today:
Me: Hey Dick, I noticed we have a lot of down time around here.
Dr. Dick: Yeah, but right now there isn't any work to do until until we present to DOE next month.
Me: Well, sure, but there's still better ways we can use our time than just sitting around and waiting. We can improve the safety and organization of the lab; I've noticed for example there's only one first aid kit and it's nowhere near where anyone is going to have an accident. We can get things organized and ready for crunch time. We can build things that are useful or spend our time on projects that would sharpen our skills. Hell, you know you're going to give a VIP tour, and the place looks like a pigstye. There's no reason we can't keep the place spruced up rather than running around at the last minute. Plus a well organized lab will make a better impression.
Dr. Dick: OK, why don't you go ahead and do it.
Me: Great, but I think this would be better coming from you. The guys would take it more seriously. Why don't you write a memo suggesting the tech staff put together a plan to use slack time more effectively. You can use some of the suggestions I made.
Dr. Dick: I don't know, I'm really busy now.
Me: OK, I'll draft it for you, and if it looks OK it can go out over your signature.
The things to remember is that you can't expect bosses to notice things or to have a plan to make things better. You're the one with the ideas, so you package them up nice and sweet and tie it up with a bow and let the boss rubber stamp it. It gets the job done, spreads the work fairly, and it gets you noticed and credited with making things better.
Re:Close, but misses the mark (Score:1, Informative)
Wake up and smell the café. The French work less hours, but they work hard and for shitty money, and they can be fired just as easily as in the US. No-one in France has a job for life any more.
But poster is right, US citizens should start fighting back to work less for more.
Re:Close, but misses the mark (Score:3, Informative)
USA: 1,792
France: 1,453
Germany: 1,446
Per-capita GDP divided by average hours worked per year:
USA: $38,700 / 1,792hr = $21.60/hr
France: $27,500 / 1,453hr = $18.93/hr
Germany: $27,600 / 1,446hr = $19.09/hr