One of Man’s basic human rights is to have work. To be without work is to be completely dependent on the system.
To be placed into this position -is to have low self-esteem and a lack of active thinking. In fact such a process encourages an unhealthy surface fixation. To work is one of the great responsibilities – it is a necessity and a part of healing. If we do not work -we are put upon by others. If we do not work we are forgotten by the status quo – that keeps us in stasis. To be forced into such a state of mind is contrary to mental stability and recovery. An artist who lives with forms of dementia -has to be involved in his art -and so he works on himself -as he works. The ones who are caught in the net of passivity -are invariably insecure and anxious.
To work is a choice and a liberation. It makes us strong and self-sufficient. To work is an inalienable right -and many times art is allied with progressive and revolutionary ideals. Many times it is an education about stigma – as well as a political will. Both move together -as art is about injustice of place and of process. When we create things we are rising up from our knees and speaking out. In order to do this -we must work. If we cannot work -how can we truly be free? One cannot allow oneself to be chained to inactivity. I don’t believe anyone is at fault here -but it is not good for a community to take care of its own. This is said to be the ‘just society’ where all people are without want. Even so we have done a crime against our own -when we force them to be fed -hand to mouth.
Work is not a privilege or a gift to give. We must realize that no matter how demeaning a job is -it is good to give one a sense of pride as well as duty. If any man is without a sense of accomplishment -he has been wronged in some way. All of us have to work -even if we are not professionals -or do not have a career. We must work -and if we do not -we die a little. This is true with artists as well as others. To work is to give to society -‘if you give -you gain so much more. If you keep you lose what you had.’ So if we cannot give -how can we relate. To work is a sort of sacrifice or a ritual. Some religious prophet said ‘work is worship’ and it is true -that such a process is a spiritual thing. The man without work is restless and discontented. So give us the means to rise up off our knees. Sometimes you must ‘bite the hand that feeds you.’
So to live in a country where there is high unemployment is to think of how some have and others do not have. Some people say that money gives us freedom. That if you do not have money -you can’t go see a play or a show. If you do not have money you can’t be equal to others -you cannot eat -or buy a glass of wine in a tavern. To have a bit of money is good -but its so much sweeter when you have labored for it. You cannot help people to fish for their dinner -they must learn by themselves. To work is to feel the joy of your commitment to the crowd. You are relating -as such a thing is a response -and all responsibilities come out of conversation and friendship. To be a part of society is to be educated in order to take care of your own life. No one wants to be inactive or stranded in a place of stillness. To move is a thing of thought -to change is to adapt to whatever situation we are in. To work is to live -and if we do not work we are dying.
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