In the 2nd half of 2021 alone, more than 25 million Americans had quit their jobs. This wave, dubbed “The Great Resignation” or “The Big Quit,” is the largest wave of resignations since recording of data began at the turn of the century. Right now, this phenomenon is most prevalent in low-income occupations or in particularly hard and often unrewarding jobs such as healthcare workers. However, I anticipate that it will capture all the professions, and not only less popular or poorly paying jobs, and to spread not only in America, but around the world.
I can understand people who quit. What’s the point of slaving for a job that takes you an hour to get there, an hour to return, and leaves you no time for yourself or to be with your family? Besides, it is better if fewer people work; there will be less plastic waste, less air pollution, and less of everything else that is poisoning the planet.
In the past, fewer people worked, mainly because women did not work, but men also worked fewer hours and spent less time commuting. What has modernity given us besides exhaustion and poor health? We thought that this lifestyle would satisfy us, but we have found that beyond a certain point, the pursuit of a career and wealth mainly spoils our lives.
Therefore, I think it is good that we are becoming less materialistic and more indifferent and lazy. When people stop working, they find that they can get by with less money and still get the basic things they need. In return, they get freedom!
I believe we are witnessing a natural process, and not necessarily a negative one. It may be inconvenient for business owners or the government, but I do not think it is negative or that we need to “treat” it. Technology can take care of our needs, and if people find it necessary to work, they will work.
The current state of overconsumption is a distortion of society, a burden on the planet, and does not benefit anyone other than the shareholders of the corporations that sell us what we do not need, which is most everything that they produce.
Particularly now, when people are beginning to ask serious questions about life, they do not want to be burdened with material needs more than is necessary. They need the time to reflect and question life, to explore within them what they want from life and from relationships.
We are in the midst of a formidable transformation. It requires time, energy, and patience, and it takes people’s minds away from the mundane.
The more people embrace this new mindset, the better it will be for everyone. On the other end of the reflections lies a new worldview that incorporates all the people and shuns brutality and narcissism. So let people lay in the sun and think; it is better for all of us.