Against Work-ing on This

In Against Work the author speaks about the culture of work in the US. An apparent need to work and make money even if it is at our expense. The author believes that this sense of having to work is actually damaging to us. This I would have to agree with. The entire premise of his article is true, the way he goes about proving it is interesting though. In the article there are several things that work and some that don’t, as well as some things that I believe are unnecessary.

In Against Work Christopher Clausen discusses the culture of work and labor in the US. In an overwhelmingly negative review he points out Workaholic-ism as a problem with our society. So much that a word meaning an addiction and non-human behavior has been so accepted that it is now considered a positive trait in a person. To describe this Clausen uses personal narrative to get to the point of his argument. While I think this was a good idea so that he may connect with the audience I feel it made him wander. At times I felt he got distracted in telling his story and wandered away from the topic. Ultimately though I felt that I connected with the author more than I would have and in relation the writing itself. However parts of the author’s personality showed through too much at times, like the comment on soldiers. That was just a bit to revealing, as well as unnecessary. There were other aspects though that I found to be a bit much. The author used many quotations. While it was nice to see that he had some backing it became too much. I found myself asking “Why should I care what old dead white guys said?” ultimately I just skipped over the last three, feeling that at this point it was just filler. But along with the quotations being a bit copious I found that it fit with an air of self-indulgence in the article. A feeling of loftiness that was just unnecessary. This stuffiness eventually made me feel bored and maybe even a bit offended if you can understand that.