Labor Day 2019

     Labor Day used to mean going back to school and the end of the tedium which is August. Now we have school opening in August and this divide in people's minds, between Summer and Autumn, has been shattered.

     Work is different these days, too. Less working together at a location like the top of a skyscraper, and more working solo at odd hours around the clock. The old work was more back breaking and tedious but the new work is using all our time and depriving us all of the advantages the previous generation worked so tirelessly to provide us. Ironic? Yes!

     Labor Day was created as a result of unrest and rioting by workers who were clearly being given a raw deal by the Robber Barons of the Gilded Age. Replace the words "robber barons" with the words "tech titans" if you desire historical context. History tends to go in circles, if not repeat itself. 

     The current age is a new Gilded Age with extreme income inequality and outrageous displays of wealth. Flying private is the new horse drawn carriage with a team of eight horses. The McMansions are symbols of the architecture which once signified taste and style. They don't do justice to the 19th century examples except as a means to wall people off from the dirty realities of life which are common just outside their walls.

     The Trust Busters of the previous age, who helped level the playing field and provide room for Trade Unions to organize, already have the tech giants like Google, Amazon, Microsoft, and Apple in their sights. Hopefully, we'll be spared the violence and prolonged strikes but you never know what people's breaking points will be or what miscarriage of justice will provoke them. Possibly, some reflection upon those days when the year had more visible  inflection points will soothe some of the anger. Maybe the image of our steady, societal progress which we all used to hold close will do the trick. I'll make no predictions, only offer my consolations to those working hard this Labor Day, with no time to reflect upon the day's origins or the new treadmill our technologies have tied us to.