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1 of 3 Premium Clicks used this month SUBSCRIBE Print + Online Subscriber Activation | Register x Forgot Password | Need an Account? subscribe | newsletter | deals Classifieds Jobs Autos Real Estate FEATURED » NEWS NOW Jeffrey Gillespie: Dems contemplate Biden time ... Our View: Taking the plunge ... The Democracy Project at SOU: An Opportunity for Learning and Leadership ... Jeffrey Gillespie: Dems contemplate Biden time ... Our View: Taking the plunge ... The Democracy Project at SOU: An Opportunity for Learning and Leadership ... MOCHA MUSINGS The new role model: Gordon Gekko Comment By Susanne Severeid DailyTidings.com By Susanne Severeid Posted Aug. 31, 2015 at 8:44 PM Updated Sep 4, 2015 at 6:14 PM By Susanne Severeid Posted Aug. 31, 2015 at 8:44 PM Updated Sep 4, 2015 at 6:14 PM » RELATED CONTENT • Mocha Musings: Have someone you can talk to? You're lucky • Channeling your inner teenager • Mocha Musings: An insight into the sight we take for granted • On the importance of kissing » Social News The recent article in the NY Times, “Inside Amazon: Wrestling Big Ideas in a Bruising Workplace,” is a shocking, in-depth revelation of how the workplace in America is evolving. For years, many have been dismayed at Wal-Mart’s employee practices, yet this article broad jumps us into entirely new, horrifying terrain. And, to make matters worse, what do these fresh crops of young, ambitious, “best and brightest” white-collar arrivals — many of whom, I’d guess, stride through the beckoning doors already swimming in college debt — even know of what a “normal” or equitable workplace should look like? After all, what is their reference point for the blurry boundaries and unspoken rules that we know exist in the corporate world? Let’s think back. My father, for instance, was a financial controller and pretty much a whiz kid for his day (I saw his university report cards, and I’m guessing A-pluses qualify him for that description). He graduated on the GI Bill, having served in the Navy during WWII, acquiring his degree six months early (none of this wait-list nonsense for courses). He might have been on the wish list of a company such as Amazon today. But that was then; he landed a good job just out of university and worked his way up the ladder, while he and my mom raised us kids in the perfect climate of the West Coast. The point is, and I remember this as a child, that he got first two, then later, three, weeks of vacation every summer. If he were to call in during that time, I think the head office would have told him to go back fishin’. When working, he often got home in time to catch Cronkite or Sevareid on the evening news and still had time to read the local paper before, or after, dinner. His job provided for health care, too. Do you remember when there was no such thing as “pre-existing medical conditions” and insurance companies did not dictate to doctors what they could, and could not, do for a patient? Dad was not expected to be plugged into an iphone at home, or jump every time he heard a “ping.” When we sat around the family table for dinner, we actually talked to one another. Oh, and we ate food, not the chemical soup they call “food” now. I don’t mean to suggest that it was idyllic. The Vietnam War was raging as our government lied, and we watched as names were added to the bronze plaque on the wall of my high school’s lobby, names of boys who would never come home. But, as far as the workplace went, for those fortunate enough to be counted among the “white collar” sector, it was far different from what is described in the Times’ article. Over the years, we have watched the word “union” become a dirty word, and we have witnessed the protections they gave workers evaporate, along with pensions. Affordable health care and benefits have gone the way of the dodo, and we’ve seen whistle blowers prosecuted for daring to tell the truth. Being on tap 24/7 and putting in overtime have become the norm. And what about basic rights regarding safety and workplace conditions, including mental and emotional health, as well as the kind of innovation and growth that springs from cooperation and trust in a balanced workplace? Or is that simply too quaint a concept nowadays for those at the top of the pyramid? We have already seen the lower-rung workers’ rights gobbled up greedily by the “profits trump all” corporate mentality. Such an article makes me wonder if the powers-that-be will only be content when these more privileged workers have had their rights usurped in the same insidious manner. In some ways, it reads like a science fiction piece: is it possible that we could reach a time in this country where workers are exploited to the same degree that farm animals are now? Will what American agribusiness has already done to animal husbandry become the new “norm” for humans? A workplace with no recognition or allowance for the sentient creatures that we are? Please say it ain’t so. I shudder to think of such a world. Award-winning author, TV presenter and world traveler Susanne Severeid is an Ashland resident who enjoys making time for the important things in life — including mocha. Read more of her columns at www.dailytidings.com/mocha-musings . For more, go to www.susannesevereid.com . Email her at [email protected]. By Susanne Severeid DailyTidings.com By Susanne Severeid Posted Aug. 31, 2015 at 8:44 PM Updated Sep 4, 2015 at 6:14 PM » Comment or view comments Reader Reaction » STAY INFORMED Email NewsLetter Sign Up Today Sign up for our newsletter and have the top headlines from your community delivered right to your inbox. Southern Oregon Directory Featured Businesses Loading... 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