Posts by John Armstrong
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Hard News: Complaint and culture, in reply to Sacha,
We owe all those involved in the Cartwright Inquiry and subsequent establishment of the Health and Disability Commission and its code of patient rights a big debt of gratitude on that front.
As part of an ongoing research project I have spoken to a number of doctors in the last four or five years, and have been informed on more than one occasion that the current lack of useful data on childbirth mortality and morbidity is - at least partially -attributable to the Cartwright Inquiry. Prior to the Inquiry there _was_ a functioning data collection system in place, but, according to these doctors, the system collapsed when their colleagues no longer felt safe to disclose information about events that may have been avoided given different approaches. I have not got the name of the earlier system to hand but could probably find it if anyone is interested.
I should stress that I am not claiming this scenario as truth, but thought that it was relevant to earlier discussions about power relations in this particular field of practice.
I'll also note that hovering about PA for years has taught me that the old builders' adage of 'measure twice and cut once' is applicable in conversation too, particularly when it involves measuring my preconceptions against the experiences of others.
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Hard News: Is that it?, in reply to BenWilson,
I feel like there's no debate going on here. This is people agreeing with each other angrily.
I'm sorry if I've given that impression, I am genuinely not angry. Its just that the 'no value in mindless work' assertion doesn't fit my experience. Maybe my experience wasn't typical. I was certainly lucky to get out and wouldn't go back unless there was nothing else was available. But neither would I erase from my memory those eight years and all the various life lessons that came with the sore back and the constant, unwashoffable eely smell. I maintain that they were of value to me. At the same time, I accept Gio's suggestion that there is bugger all to recommend picking rice until your face stops working. Its all on a spectrum, and I guess that is why making blanket assertions either way probably has its problems. Some jobs are shit to the point of inhuman, while others are just a pain in the arse.
And, yes, shitty jobs can lead to some http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5jG0Onc6goc / pretty fantastic art..
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Hard News: Is that it?, in reply to giovanni tiso,
It's important to recognise the dehumanising aspects of work
I agree with this too. I'm not arguing that the kinds of work we are talking about are to be preferred, and that we should not try to make things better. I just think that's its equally dangerous to 'extend to others' the idea that there is no value in shitty work. Getting up in the morning was bad enough circa 1995-2003 without that albatross around my neck.
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Hard News: Is that it?, in reply to Geoff Lealand,
Greetings from a fellow Hamiltonian. That makes 4 of us, according to my count.
I've been meaning to wander down the corridor one of these days to say hello but have yet to muster up the courage. It's bad enough disagreeing with Gio..
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Hard News: Is that it?, in reply to giovanni tiso,
A humane society is one that values people, not their labour as an abstraction.
I couldn't agree with this more. In fact I thought it was what I was arguing. I wonder if our difference comes from me taking a slightly wider view of 'labour'; one that extends beyond that physical movement of the toilet brush to include all the various thoughts, skills, and interactions that most jobs require. And this isn't the same thing as equating a person with the job they do. Its a rejection of the idea that a clear demarcation is possible; the two blur together in a whole range of ways.
I fail to see how the idea that your workplace pride is imposed on you by your betters could liberate anyone, either.
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Hard News: Is that it?, in reply to giovanni tiso,
would you kindly point me to the mindful part of cleaning toilets?
I'm not saying that their aren't shitty jobs. Gutting eels was no party, and the lifting involved wrecked my back to the extent that I couldn't go back to it now if I wanted to. But my point is that there is more to cleaning toilets than cleaning toilets. No one transports through time and space from loo to loo, or from one day to the next. In between you are dealing with people (bosses, co-workers, public), organising the gear and the transport, and attempting to maintain some kind of personal integrity by cleaning / gutting / picking the bloody thing properly. You might have a few laughs with the people you work with. You might even have interesting conversations. You might learn to value the parts of your life that don't involve being covered in shit to the elbows. You learn to justify your shitty job to yourself, and if you are lucky you might see that not all the justifications work and its time to get out. But even if you can't get out, or can only move sideways, dealing with the fact and getting on with it requires resolve, and possibly an even greater awareness of the value of things that happen after 5:00pm.
The idea that taking pride in shitty work is imposed on us in order to keep us in line is utter tosh. Doing a job properly, even a shitty one, is about basic self-respect.
PS, no, not the one from the Herald.
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Hard News: Is that it?, in reply to Steve Barnes,
You could say that a bright person working in a dull job will gain more wisdom that a dullard in a complex and competitive position.
I'm not sure. I am uneasy about the assumed correlation between 'brightness' and wisdom (also, ahem, based on university experience..). I'd rather say that wisdom (define as you like) derives primarily from experience, and not neccesarily as a function of brightness. I can think of at least one ex-currency trader who would probably benefit from a spell up to his elbows in eel guts. Or working in a creche. Or on a benefit. Or something.
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Hard News: Is that it?, in reply to giovanni tiso,
jobs that are mindless
I spent eight years gutting eels before I came to university. I wouldn't claim to have been anything like wise at the time, but I did have older colleagues who were masterful at managing staff relationships in an environment that had little job satifaction, no windows, and easy access to knives. I also firmly believe that the experience taught me a bit of wisdom, which has had real value in the University environment, where people have often got to without the intermediate step of a few years of 'mindless' work, I believe to their detriment. I genuinely admire your contributions around here Gio, but I think you miss the mark on this occasion. There is no such thing as mindless work, and to claim otherwise in an insult to the people who do it.
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Re: long views 'versus' sensitivity. Are these necessarily mutually exclusive? It seems to me perfectly possible (and even useful) to react to the violence we are seeing at a human level, i.e. with anger, empathy etc, while also attempting to understand it within various historical, economic, social, or even philosophical contexts. There is nothing evasive about either approach. In fact they usefully illuminate each other.
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Hard News: A Century Since, in reply to Kate Hannah,
Mmm. The reason I linked to Nepia's article, 'Closing the Gaps', is because it raises some critical questions about the somewhat cosy narrative that King and others have produced. I don't know enough about Curnow's oeuvre to make a judgement, but the poem that Russell has posted here - an iconic one - can certainly be read to support this narrative: that for those of us with European heritage, becoming a 'New Zealander' can be done entirely on out own terms, or at best by modelling our stance on a glass-encased indigenous museum piece. I am lucky enough to work with Nepia every day, and exposure to ideas such as those that the cited piece articulates has made me uneasy about that narrative. I think it also provides an immensely powerful alternative path to finding a way to stand in these islands.