Edited by Martin Cadwell, Thursday, 2 Jan 2025, 05:44
The purpose of this loose investigation was to understand how older people (Gen X)
understand their freedom; how it has been eroded in the modern world;
and how Gen Y (millennials) and Gen Z persons may have 'their eyes
fixed on 'negative liberty''. My focus is on whether persons present
themselves in interviews that match the expectation of the
interviewer who themselves are firmly set in 'negative liberty'
values. Interviewers are really focused on Health and Safety, and the
newly fangled 'Work-Life Balance' aspect of personal protection.
‘...the moral or
political or social order sets the scene. It can’t help what people
make of the scene. Whether people can go on to achieve the life of
eudaimonia is up to them. It is not the job of a moral philosophy,
and more than that of a constitution or a government, to make people
happy, but only to set a stage within which they can be happy. The
American Declaration of Independence talks of ‘life, liberty and
the pursuit of happiness’, not the achievement of happiness'.
Quote continues -
'This conception of
the role of the political order is characteristic of liberalism. It is
often said that its eyes are fixed on ‘negative liberty’ – people are to be
free from various evils. This is contrasted with a more goal-driven or
idealistic politics in which the aim is to enable people to do various
good things or to become or be something desirable –
positive liberty’. (Blackburn, 2001 p81)
I understand that
work efficiency is increased if workers are rested; yet I am at a
loss to know how interviewers perceive the concept of rest and
recuperation - is it for the individual or the business' success? If
I understand this correctly, perhaps my job interviewee approach can
be temporarily moulded to conform to a set of values that seem to be
prevalent in the modern world, yet are greatly understated and
intellectually suppressed.
There is no hiding
my education when I am interviewed. I, and many others similar to me,
must present facets of our individuality that dispel preconceived
views of 'out-moded' Gen X persons, by embracing modern views, and
perhaps 'entitlement', and offering a distinctive and interesting;
though never superior, or closed, or one-sided, or satisfied, performance.
A leap of thinking
has given me cause to believe that modern UK schooling and digital
social interaction capability has given rise to an encompassing
communist approach to life in the UK.
In the 1960s and 70s
student rioters and protestors were probably least likely to secure
work by dint of having a particular mindset (unproven). Today, the
average elderly 'Just Stop Oil' protestor might seem more likely to
secure a job before I can.
The marriage between
'entitlement' and what might be considered to be utilitarianism and
altruism in a modern individual, I think, has created a species that,
through hegemony, is about to make sensible people extinct.
In preparation for
successfully gaining appropriate work I shall focus on creating a
character that I intend to act out during job interviews. Of course,
this is anathema to me because it is deceitful; however, if one is
'in for a penny', then one might as well be 'in for a pound', so I
shall adjust my CV to be in compliance with the views and activities
of a modern hippy bent on maintaining the proverbial teenager's
lament of 'Why should I?'; 'Mañana', and the pursuit of a halcyon
kaleidoscope of self-indulgent immediate gratification that satisfies
an addiction to dopamine.
Realistically, this
means adding energy-consuming entertaining activities to give an
impression of health, fitness, low-uncertainty avoidance personality,
and sociability, despite preferring a 'cup of tea'.
This then will,
satirically, be my new approach to finding and securing a suitable new job.
There is, however, an element of prescience to this, I feel;
particularly in how easily citizens around the world flee their
countries when threatened by an oppressing force, notwithstanding a
digitally enhanced communication that facilitated the 'Arab Spring'.
Modern thinking is ' The concept is a good idea, but I am not brave
enough to be a martyr; where is my TEAM?'; and, 'Let's make a team
and share responsibility for being absent!'
I prefer to just go
to work, work all the hours to get the task done and go home and not
think about work.
On ethics held by Gen X, Y, and Z
‘...the moral or political or social order sets the scene. It can’t help what people make of the scene. Whether people can go on to achieve the life of eudaimonia is up to them. It is not the job of a moral philosophy, and more than that of a constitution or a government, to make people happy, but only to set a stage within which they can be happy. The American Declaration of Independence talks of ‘life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness’, not the achievement of happiness'.
Quote continues -
'This conception of the role of the political order is characteristic of liberalism. It is often said that its eyes are fixed on ‘negative liberty’ – people are to be free from various evils. This is contrasted with a more goal-driven or idealistic politics in which the aim is to enable people to do various good things or to become or be something desirable – positive liberty’. (Blackburn, 2001 p81)
I understand that work efficiency is increased if workers are rested; yet I am at a loss to know how interviewers perceive the concept of rest and recuperation - is it for the individual or the business' success? If I understand this correctly, perhaps my job interviewee approach can be temporarily moulded to conform to a set of values that seem to be prevalent in the modern world, yet are greatly understated and intellectually suppressed.
There is no hiding my education when I am interviewed. I, and many others similar to me, must present facets of our individuality that dispel preconceived views of 'out-moded' Gen X persons, by embracing modern views, and perhaps 'entitlement', and offering a distinctive and interesting; though never superior, or closed, or one-sided, or satisfied, performance.
A leap of thinking has given me cause to believe that modern UK schooling and digital social interaction capability has given rise to an encompassing communist approach to life in the UK.
In the 1960s and 70s student rioters and protestors were probably least likely to secure work by dint of having a particular mindset (unproven). Today, the average elderly 'Just Stop Oil' protestor might seem more likely to secure a job before I can.
The marriage between 'entitlement' and what might be considered to be utilitarianism and altruism in a modern individual, I think, has created a species that, through hegemony, is about to make sensible people extinct.
In preparation for successfully gaining appropriate work I shall focus on creating a character that I intend to act out during job interviews. Of course, this is anathema to me because it is deceitful; however, if one is 'in for a penny', then one might as well be 'in for a pound', so I shall adjust my CV to be in compliance with the views and activities of a modern hippy bent on maintaining the proverbial teenager's lament of 'Why should I?'; 'Mañana', and the pursuit of a halcyon kaleidoscope of self-indulgent immediate gratification that satisfies an addiction to dopamine.
Realistically, this means adding energy-consuming entertaining activities to give an impression of health, fitness, low-uncertainty avoidance personality, and sociability, despite preferring a 'cup of tea'.
This then will, satirically, be my new approach to finding and securing a suitable new job. There is, however, an element of prescience to this, I feel; particularly in how easily citizens around the world flee their countries when threatened by an oppressing force, notwithstanding a digitally enhanced communication that facilitated the 'Arab Spring'. Modern thinking is ' The concept is a good idea, but I am not brave enough to be a martyr; where is my TEAM?'; and, 'Let's make a team and share responsibility for being absent!'
I prefer to just go to work, work all the hours to get the task done and go home and not think about work.
REFERENCES
Atillah, Imane El, 2024, 'Companies are firing Gen Z employees soon after hiring them. What's behind their job struggles? ', Euronews online. Available at: https://www.euronews.com/next/2024/12/08/companies-are-firing-gen-z-workers-soon-after-hiring-them-whats-behind-their-job-market-st. Accessed: 17 December 2024
Blackburn, Simon, 2001, Ethics – A very short introduction, Ch. 13, ‘Freedom from the bad’. Oxford, Oxford University Press