The Rat-Race and social inequality

Let’s take a moment to examine popular culture in the workplace. I mentioned the rat-race in my last blog. What exactly is the rat-race? Yes it is a movie with a wonderful cast, but it is also an explanation for one of society’s most repetitive tasks, life. Everyday people wake up, do the bathroom thing, eat and head off to work. Those that do not work follow some sort of other routine. It is globally accepted to have a job, make money and provide for a family. Some are more successful than others. In other words life is a giant rat-race. Rats are placed in a maze with a piece of cheese in the center of the maze and the quickest most efficient rat/mouse will get to the cheese first. What exactly am I saying? Life is like a maze with fortune and fame being the cheese.

There are many ways to get to the cheese. Sports, corporate business, invention and design are just some of the ways of achieving the American dream. Mainstream society however places many restrictions on individuals that limit their quickened advancement. Employers want efficient, speedy workers; coaches want strong and quick players just to name a couple. The workplace has become so competitive that machines in some instances are replacing many jobs. Therefore one could surgically implant a machine that allows them to enhance these characteristics and have an edge on competition. This certainly would level the playing field between men and women in sports, if for instance a woman wanted to play football in the NFL at any position.

On that note ideas of sexual orientation or being a female in a patriarchal society is a mountain for many popular cultures to climb. These notions of inequality are prevalent in patriarchal societies and are clear as glass. Most cultures attempt to create an equal opportunity for men and women but most fail in their task. I am not really at liberty to state how a woman feels concerning the way they are treated but I can observe that in the workplace, especially my own, women should be treated equally to men. I have also observed that on a daily basis women have worked doubly hard in their environment compared to some men yet those men still receive a higher benefit than the women. The issue is not the speed or strength someone has, the problem lies in the employer and how he treats his employee’s. Notice I say “his employee’s” rather than use a politically correct term that recognizes both sexes. The reason for this is that many high profile jobs are in fact run by men. I have an interesting link at the bottom of this blog, it’s a little old but mainly sheds a bit of light on the patriarchal conservative government. It is not a credited source but it might be interesting to watch. Anyway back on topic, as I stated before, neural implants, in the works by Kevin Warwick (an extremist), may shorten the gap, but still will not be the answer to social inequalities in Canada.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Se7AjimwHAA