Why Is Plongeur's Work Necessary To Civilization

345 Words1 Page
bulb-icon

Recommended: The positive impact of coal mining

Coal mining, for example, is hard work, but it is necessary—we must have coal. Working in the sewers is unpleasant, but somebody must work in the sewers. And similarly with a plongeur ’s work. Some people must feed in restaurants, and so other people must swab dishes for eighty hours a week. It is the work of civilization, therefore unquestionable. This point is worth considering. Is a plongeur ’s work really necessary to civilization? We have a feeling that it must be ‘honest’ work, because it is hard and disagreeable, and we have made a sort of fetish of manual work. We see a man cutting down a tree, and we make sure that he is filling a social need, just because he uses his muscles; it does not occur to us that he may only be cutting down

Show More
Related

  • Three Old Worlds 1492

    1228 Words  | 3 Pages

    This means that men and women were entitled to a particular job and they were obliged to do their work. Agricultural societies assigned work in divergent ways and this helped them because there was increase in productivity.

    Read More

  • Singapore by author Mary Oliver

    618 Words  | 2 Pages

    This paper focuses mainly on the sincereity as well as the passion with which we do our job. Human body is a very sophisticated machine created by God himself. It can do all sorts of things but there are a few things at which the human body gets very perfect.And that perfectness comes from practice, devotion,love,sincerity and responsibility towards that particular thing. Let me associate the word "thing" in the previous sentence as working. Working for living. Reason I chose to write on this topic was that the Poem " Singapore" written by author Mary Oliver that I read in the book by John Schilb and John Clifford influenced me alot. The Poem narrates the life of a woman which works on an aeroplane and is cleaning teh restrooms which are very dirty. She visually and physically finds the job dirty. But while cleaning that restrooms she sees it in her own world.She finds her hands working in pleasure as she is wondering the scenes of rivers. She realises the truth of life that she has to work to earn her living.

    Read More

  • walden two

    815 Words  | 2 Pages

    In Walden Two, a member is paid in credits that are required by the society. Each person earns a certain amount of credits per hour for every job they do. Everyone is expected to work to receive 4-6 credits for one day. The amount of credits-per-hour depends on the job. A more physically demanding or unpleasant job would receive more points then something less taxing. This is an effective way or contracting society because it has people work enough to get the necessary work done to drive the society without overworking and tapping out the worker. When Castle and Frazier discuss whether a community can survive on such little work, we understand that the people who are working are working with intent and without distractions and not under distracting supervision. It is also useful because it allows people to choose how to spend their time. If they would like to get their work down quickly by doing a more challenging job, that is their choice and they are not being made to do so. This also allows people to freely move around with jobs. They are not locked into one job for the rest of their life. If they do not like it, they can sign up for a new job tomorrow. This allows you to pursue your interests wit...

    Read More

  • Upton Sinclair's Work Conditions

    1143 Words  | 3 Pages

    In a most literal sense men’s bodies were routinely exploited for unrelenting dangerous labor then discarded as the human body began to break. Instead of being reward...

    Read More

  • Work In An Industrial Society By Erich Fromm

    1647 Words  | 4 Pages

    In the essay “Work in an Industrial Society” by Erich Fromm, the author explains how work used to carry a profound satisfaction, however today workers only care about their payment for their labor. Fromm opens up with how craftsmanship was developed in the thirteenth and fourteenth century. It was not until the Middle ages, Renaissance and the eighteenth century, when craftsmanship was at its peak. According to C.W. Mills, workers were free to control his or her own working actions, learn from their work and develop their skills and capacities. Despite what Mills says, people today spend their best energy for seven to eight hours a day to produce “something”. Majority of the time, we do not see the final

    Read More

  • Socialism In Kurt Vonnegut's Player Piano

    1783 Words  | 4 Pages

    Among the individuals who live within Homestead, there are some which possess a good understanding of mechanics and engineering. While driving through Homestead, Paul’s car breaks down as he runs into a group of laborers. As Paul gets out of his, the group starts theorizing about what is broken on the car, the oldest of the group says, “Sucking in air. I knew the minute I heard you coming a mile off” (Vonnegut 70). He proceeds to fix the fuel pump and, lo and behold he was right, that was the source of the problem. This individual does not lack the intellectual ability to become an engineer, but lacks the aspiration and ambition to do so. The working class has no purpose; they feel lesser hence they do not have goals or want to be anything other than what they are. Capitalism produces a system where the value of the worker becomes deflated. They are being alienated due to the circumstances surrounding them, the fact that machines are favored gives them the ideology that they cannot compete with a machine. They look down upon themselves and see that they are trapped where they are and no longer aspire to be anything else. In “World Without Work”, the author says “Most people want to work, and are miserable when they cannot” (Thompson). This state of being miserable and depressed stops these proletariats from seeing the bigger picture. They cannot see the end of the tunnel. They become stuck in

    Read More

  • Essay on Language, Imagery, and Symbolism in To Be of Use

    1171 Words  | 3 Pages

    ... the fruits of a person's hard labor will linger to give honor to their memory after their death.  However, Piercy adds that "they were made to be used" to indicate that this won't be the case if a person's labor is not the fruitful productive type.   Piercy concludes by stating that "The pitcher cries for water to carry and a person for work that is real" (25-26).  With this figurative language Piercy develops the theme by affirming that people need to be willing to work hard in order to reach the satisfaction of accomplishing something that is meaningful in their lives.

    Read More

  • Economic Systems: The Raise of Capitalsm

    1851 Words  | 4 Pages

    Bartleby has raised many question is out society, whether the past or present. The story can still be relevant in our society due to alienation between the capitalist and the workers. Many argue that jobs can dehumanize individuals because if one does not work as productively as a capitalist want them then they are deemed useless and are cast aside in the society. Capitalist hide behind mask to look as good as they can in front of the public and the public are as blind as they can be. Without questioning the capitalist, they follow and let themselves be dehumanized.

    Read More

  • Spare Time: The Positive Meaning Of A Spare Time

    1128 Words  | 3 Pages

    Pieper describes work as “that which gives man’s workday its name” (Pieper, 15). He also says, “it has a practical purpose, it produces utilitarian goods, it contributes to the common useful wealth…” (Pieper, 19). What Pieper means here I think is that, anything that we do that gives us satisfaction and provides for our daily needs so we may remain alive, is what is called work.

    Read More

  • Protest Movements: Catalysts for Change in U.S. History

    1907 Words  | 4 Pages

    For Marx, lineated labor is, “exterior to the worker, that is, it does not belong to his essence. Therefore, he does not confirm himself in his work, he denies himself (…) no free physical and intellectual energy (…) his labor is therefore not voluntary but compulsory, forced labor. It is therefore not the satisfaction of a need but only a means to satisfy needs outside itself” (2013a). The workers on strike do not have control over the service that they provide. They have to do what they have been told (ride a specific route and follow a schedule, depart from the indicated areas and stop at the indicated places) and do so repeatedly without questioning. They have been separated from their creative potential and have become a tool of the capital system. Some people can say that this job provides the money they need to satisfy their needs, but the truth is that they are not using their full potential. By doing this job, they are giving up his time to do the things that fulfill their life. Drivers do not need to travel to Philadelphia transporting people; it is all the way around. People need drivers to take them to their jobs, schools, etc. However, does society value this? My answer would be no. Workers do not receive a full reward for the work they do. In this system, it does not matter how fast workers do their job neither their attitude toward the riders. The only thing that matters is doing the job. In other

    Read More

  • Difference Between Social Work And Social Division Of Labour

    1198 Words  | 3 Pages

    One of the single most important features of industrial productivity and technical progress is the concept of division of labour. Division of labour is the breaking down of a work process into a number of tasks, with each task performed by a separate person or group of persons. It is most often applied to systems of mass production and is one of the basic organising principles of the assembly line. Breaking down work into simple, monotonous tasks removes any pointless motion and limits the handling of different tools and parts. The term `Labour` refers to any kind of physical or mental work which involves the provision of a product or service and does not just apply to paid work, it can also be in the home. This unpaid work is done by family members to maintain a household and unpaid domestic work has usually been done by women, e.g., wives and mothers. Their work may include cooking, cleaning, raising children, or managing household expenses. Social division of labour in a capitalistic society allocates certain sorts of tasks to certain sorts of people, in ways that are not equal, i.e. according to skills or labour power, i.e. who does the physical work versus factory owners, industrialists who own the product and make a profit. This refers to the separation of activities between individuals within society and is often linked to the existence of classes and gender. This continues to happen despite equality legislation; paid work has increased over time and is oft...

    Read More

  • Important Formative Experience That Made Me The Adult I Am Today

    1370 Words  | 3 Pages

    In chapter one of my theater book, I was able to make the connection of "theater" is "work" to my experience of work in a theater with school plays. I know that I did not work as hard as professionals do, but I did work hard. For three months, we practiced everyday except for Saturday and Sunday, from 3:30 to 6:30. I helped with a lot of the choreography, so that made my days even longer and harder. However, this was also an enjoyable work experience for me. While reading the passage, I was able to relate with some of the "theater times" because of my play director. My high school director was very talented in directing plays. He would talk to us as if we were professionals and made us put more into what we were doing. That would be impersonation. When the passage talked about art, I thought of my art teacher who would always design all of the sets and made them look so lifelike. When the passage said that there are more behind the stage workers than on stage workers, I knew that that is very true. We had the front and backlighting, the designing people, who cleared the sets and put on new ones, the directing and the building crews. I was able to relate most of the passage through my own past experiences.

    Read More

  • An Analysis Of What Work Is By Philip Levine

    1156 Words  | 3 Pages

    The poem, “What Work Is” by Philip Levine is an intricate and thought-provoking selection. Levine uses a slightly confusing method of describing what work actually is. He gives the idea that work is very tedious, however necessary. It is miserable, however, it is a sacrifice that is essentially made by many, if not all able-bodied members of society. Many have to sacrifice going to a concert or a movie, but instead works jobs with hardly a manageable salary. This poem seems to have a focus on members of the lower-class or middle-class who live paycheck to paycheck and are unable to put money away for a future for their children or for a vacation and how difficult life can be made to be while living under this type of circumstance. Levine

    Read More

  • What Is The Theme Of The Metamorphosis By Granz Kafka

    1652 Words  | 4 Pages

    Humans need and require other human contact constantly working does not allow a person to build any sort of lasting meaningful relationship or connection. Franz Kafka built post mortem relationships with the world on a

    Read More

  • Rewarded Obedience

    2080 Words  | 5 Pages

    In his epic, Paradise Lost, John Milton explores the concept of labor and it's connection with obedience. While the word "labor" often express work of any kind, true labor involves tiresome, physical exertion and seems to suggest a bodily burden and trying task. When a job appears enjoyable, such work does not constitute real labor, but instead often represents a reward for obedience. Through the juxtaposition of a relaxed, content life with one filled with burdensome and physical exertion, Milton emphasizes the importance of obedience and illustrates how disobedience results in bodily punishment.

    Read More

More about Why Is Plongeur's Work Necessary To Civilization

Open Document