November 26, 2001

9:22 AM

The Age: The perils and joys of fleadom
(where flea=independent businessperson).
"Sadly, Handy says, a world of fleas and small organisations has led to a more selfish society ... 'What we need particularly is somewhere for the unhappy fleas to belong to.'"
So, for all those people who will be unsuccessful in business, and join the have-nots instead of the haves... what could they possibly belong to that would make things allright?
posted by kv (4 comments total)

This article does sum up some thoughts I've had about the permanent-mercenary life. Even if you do succeed, you feel as if you're poaching from organizations, that you're looking in on well-lit houses on a cold night looking for a warm night's sleep. Even if you're likely to succeed, over and over, it's a bit of a forbidding feeling.

But surely most of the organizations from which most people derive their sense of belonging are not worth belonging to. To use the company you work for as the organizing body of your life (you get your friends there, you play out your family dramas with the supervisors, you get a title) is lazy.

If you want to belong to a group, try a group with no financial interest in taking as much from you as possible. Try a volunteer organization, or an amateur sports team, or a church, or a fraternal organization, or a union, or just a stable group of close friendships. Otherwise you organize your life around your utility, which is a way of choking off your range as a human being.
posted by argybarg at 9:45 AM on November 26, 2001

for all those people who will be unsuccessful in business, and join the have-nots instead of the haves... what could they possibly belong to that would make things allright?

um...the haves, of course.
posted by rushmc at 11:01 AM on November 26, 2001

When the Trade Union Elephant dies I'm gonna go poke it with a stick.
posted by Catch at 12:26 PM on November 26, 2001

a number of organizations have come to my mind over the years, but the strongest suggestion I have is free software

of course truth, knowledge, and understanding are foundational... and in this universe where evil lurks "war" will never end

Cryptonomicon is excellent
posted by gkr at 2:04 PM on November 26, 2001