Rethinking Labor on Labor Day

Labor Day is fast approaching. For most of us, it means little more than a three-day weekend and the unofficial start of fall. We have long since stopped taking time to reflect on what labor means to society, to our future, or even what “labor” really is.

Traditionally, laborers have been placed at the bottom of society’s hierarchy—viewed as the people who perform repetitive, non-creative work necessary for the machinery of society to function, and assumed to require only minimal skills. Independent thinking and initiative were neither expected nor desired. That view treated human beings as little more than machines of production, to be discarded when no longer needed.

But that definition of labor is itself a social construct—and one that has outlived its usefulness. It strips human beings of the dignity of being made in the image of God. Automation has reduced some of the demand for this kind of labor, but it has not eliminated the impulse of those in power to impose machine-like conditions on as many jobs as possible. Recent articles describe how the free-wheeling creativity once associated with Silicon Valley is giving way to rigid, risk-averse environments where initiative is discouraged. The 1999 cult classic Office Space may have been more prophetic than comedic.

Meanwhile, some of our most popular college majors—business, finance, and computer science—do not necessarily prepare students to be creators and builders of something that will outlast them. They are trained in the art of manipulating data and resources to maximize profitability. But profitability of what? It often doesn’t matter. The skills can be applied to anything, but who will create that “anything”? And will it hold real value for society? Scouting for opportunities to make quick money may result in new products or services, but not always in something of enduring worth for the common good.

This Labor Day, I would like to see us honor the work required to create and sustain our nation’s infrastructure—at both its utilitarian and aesthetic best—from small towns and neighborhoods to our largest cities and everything in between. Let us also celebrate the labor of those who create products and provide services essential to living a good life. The financial sector, powerful as it is, should be honored as the servant of a healthy economy—not its master.

Odd as it may sound, I also believe Labor Day should include honorable mention of legislators, from town councils to Congress, who enact policies and provide resources that make the whole enterprise possible. Sadly, too many in public office are unworthy of that honor. They have surrendered their duty to the selfish interests of a few, abandoning the common good. Engaging in politics for the common good has been the noble duty of every citizen from ancient Greece to the democratic marvel that has been the hallmark of the American dream.  It deserves better from each of us and especially from those who hold public office.