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The narratives that define our culture are subtle sometimes. We all like the shared belief that hard work has good outcomes. For instance, you go to school to get a job. If you work hard in your job, you\u2019ll have a good life, live in your own house and achieve your dreams.<\/p>\n
We teach these ideas to children in the hopes they\u2019ll be hard working and entrepreneurial.<\/p>\n
But there are a couple of myths underneath these values. Firstly, there\u2019s an implication those who succeed deserve it. And this implies those who don\u2019t have high paying jobs only have themselves to blame.<\/p>\n
Next we have the narrative it\u2019s good to have a job, but we should also be more ambitious and strive for something better. Again, if we don\u2019t get it, we have ourselves to blame.<\/p>\n
We can see these two narratives in the way some politicians talk. Remember, for instance, when in 2015, then\u00a0Treasurer Joe Hockey said<\/a>\u00a0people looking to buy a house just had to \u201cget a good job\u201d.<\/p>\n We can use philosophical tools to see how both these narratives are myths.<\/p>\n This myth is based in meritocracy. It\u2019s a common feature of\u00a0neoliberal discourse<\/a>\u00a0and in theory it\u2019s an admirable belief, and aspirational \u2014 anyone can succeed and be their best selves. Your achievement depends on how hard you try.<\/p>\n But there\u2019s a dark side to this view. When a person doesn\u2019t succeed, we often\u00a0blame the person<\/a>\u00a0for not working hard enough.<\/p>\n There is often a mistaken judgement those who do not measure up have been lazy, stupid or lacking initiative. This is known in philosophy as a\u00a0modus tollens<\/a><\/em>\u00a0fallacy. It goes like this:<\/p>\n Or, in our example:<\/p>\n Many politicians and community leaders intuitively believe many young people are not in work due to\u00a0laziness<\/a>,\u00a0poor work ethic<\/a>, or some kind of\u00a0personal indulgence<\/a>.<\/p>\n And yet, people may have lost their job, due to the pandemic, for instance.\u00a0It\u2019s demonstrably false to say to most people on JobSeeker<\/a>\u00a0are the lazy dole bludgers of neoliberal legend, given twice as many people received payments in 2020 than in 2019.<\/p>\n Or people on JobSeeker never had the opportunity to succeed in the first place due to systemic racism, gender inequality, natural disasters and poorly designed economic policies. They may be suffering mental health issues that prevent them from being their best selves.<\/p>\n There are many factors in play when it comes to financial success. But\u00a0one of the greatest predictors is family wealth<\/a>. Two children, from different families, putting in the same amount of effort may experience completely different outcomes because of the wealth of their parents.<\/p>\n Education, nutrition, parental attention and culture are factors in success too \u2014 but nothing\u00a0quite matches the raw advantage of coming from a wealthy family<\/a>.<\/p>\n If we\u2019re willing to say work success can be disrupted by COVID-19, let\u2019s just admit there might be other causes too.<\/p>\n It\u2019s a common trope<\/a>\u00a0in political statements, and society more generally,\u00a0that people need jobs<\/a>. Jobs are good. And implicitly, if you have a job, it\u2019s good enough.<\/p>\n But this is often not the case due to what\u2019s known as a\u00a0conformity bias<\/a>.<\/p>\n This is when we adopt the beliefs and behaviours of others from their social cues, rather than using our own judgement or reasoning. Humans are social creatures and we aim to fit in with one another \u2014 conformity bias is part of that.<\/p>\n That\u2019s why we see certain jobs as more\u00a0prestigious than others<\/a>\u00a0and value people\u2019s contribution more or less as a result.<\/p>\n And we often value the money in a job more highly than any other quality in a job.<\/p>\n This social attitude creates a\u00a0bias in our thinking<\/a>\u00a0that higher pay means your job is more valuable.\u00a0The high salaries of some CEOs<\/a>\u00a0feature in the news as implicitly positive examples.<\/p>\n The flip side of this bias though, is the undervaluing of the low earners.<\/p>\n Nurses serve a vital role in society as members of frontline medical staff\u00a0but get paid little<\/a>\u00a0compared to\u00a0the doctors<\/a>\u00a0they work alongside.\u00a0Teachers<\/a>\u00a0performed an enormous task last year, shifting huge swaths of educational content to an online format (as well as needing to cater to the emotional needs of millions of children) and\u00a0their pay<\/a>\u00a0is similarly low.<\/p>\n It gets worse for casual jobs,\u00a0unskilled jobs and jobs that lack managerial authority<\/a>. These all have low occupational prestige, despite being characterised as essential.<\/p>\n We are biased against retail workers and\u00a0cleaners<\/a>\u00a0due to their low wages. We could make the argument serving others makes their job seem inferior, but this doesn\u2019t check out as pilots, doctors and lawyers serve others too.<\/p>\n The amount of training and investment in the career undoubtedly plays a role in the development of the bias. Artists and creatives\u00a0are not highly salaried<\/a>\u00a0and yet still work long hours but this matters little to those who prize high earnings above all other qualities.<\/p>\n And yet, having a job society sees as prestigious isn\u2019t what will make you satisfied in life.<\/p>\n Studies have shown<\/a>\u00a0job security<\/a>,\u00a0autonomy in a role<\/a>, and\u00a0work-life balance<\/a>\u00a0are crucial factors to job satisfaction.<\/p>\n When we talk to our children (and ourselves) about what a good job is to us, we need to talk less in terms of wages and earnings.<\/p>\n We need to be talking about how meaningful it is, how much autonomy we have in it, and whether it allows for a meaningful balance with the rest of our time.<\/p>\nMyth 1: personal success comes from effort<\/strong><\/h4>\n
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Myth 2: You should feel ashamed if your job isn\u2019t ambitious enough<\/strong><\/h4>\n