Last week over the phone my dad told me that there had been a fatal accident at the factory where he works. What surprised me most was that beneath the heartbreak in his voice there was also an unspoken acknowledgement that these things are just part of his job. Have you ever looked at the OSHA fatality inspection data? There are literally thousands of people (5,333 in 2021) dying at work every year, mostly from either falling or having things fall on them. And it mostly happens in the jobs this whole world can’t exist without. These are people who make buildings or wire electricity to them or make roads or lay down train tracks. You’d think the essential nature of their work would make their lives just as valuable, but no — the fact that they are alienated from the labor without which the whole system collapses renders their lives totally incidental.
three things
three things
three things
Last week over the phone my dad told me that there had been a fatal accident at the factory where he works. What surprised me most was that beneath the heartbreak in his voice there was also an unspoken acknowledgement that these things are just part of his job. Have you ever looked at the OSHA fatality inspection data? There are literally thousands of people (5,333 in 2021) dying at work every year, mostly from either falling or having things fall on them. And it mostly happens in the jobs this whole world can’t exist without. These are people who make buildings or wire electricity to them or make roads or lay down train tracks. You’d think the essential nature of their work would make their lives just as valuable, but no — the fact that they are alienated from the labor without which the whole system collapses renders their lives totally incidental.