Working New Mexico – An Outlook

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Permalink Reply by Jennifer Cohen on July 29, 2008 at 10:57am

The article by Juliet Schor is very interesting, and has a lot of valuable information that I had never before taken into account. This article helped me to realize the exorbitant amount of wealth in the United States, and how we have truly become a nation of “stuff” while our productivity has actually declined. Juliet Schor makes comparisons to other European Nations, and it is interesting to see how, after many years of parallel lifestyles, the United States made a sharp turn turns working more and relaxing less, while the European countries did the exact opposite.

This course, as well as other courses that I have taken, have had a major impact on how I spend time on other activities. I have always made sure to give myself at least some time to relax or get away for the weekend if I have a difficult week, but with the intense course-load this summer, it has not been entirely possible. Juliet Schor asks, in her article about leisure and prosperity, “Why has leisure been such a conspicuous casualty of prosperity?” (Schor, pg.1). This is a very interesting question, because I have to ask myself this question all too often. I have given up much of my personal time to excel in my courses at both CNM and UNM. I have taken away much of my time from my loved ones and time away for myself. I have to ask myself, what comes of this? For me, personally, I am gaining prosperity. I am gaining the education that I have wanted for so many years. In contrast to Juliet Schor’s article about prosperity declining as a whole, I have sacrificed personal time for personal profit. There is an interesting difference here between her article and personal experiences. While she takes an overall look at the trends of the United States, personal experiences are drastically different.

In her article, Janet Schor states, “…[people] are spending less time on the basics, like sleeping and eating.” (Schor, Pg.1). This is definitely the truth with my life while in school. While I wish there was a way to more efficiently balance school and leisure, certain things are sacrificed. I just don’t have the time or the money to go out and eat, and I often loose precious sleep because of an overabundance of assignments and finals etc. I do agree with Juliet Schor and the pressures that we face every day. American’s are under the notion (whether true or not) that more work equals more productivity which equals more money and happiness. I am at fault for this, and it can be a dangerous way of life. What are we doing if we spend all of our time and energy working and continue to “cheat our kids out of childhood?” (Schor, Pg.1) All my life I have wanted children, and I am trying to gain a strong foundation now, so I can work less later in life and make sure my children have all of the opportunity and quality time that I never had with my parents.

While the main reason I am in school is to increase my chances at a better career later in life, I am also in school because I enjoy a challenge and the reward of a good education. Just the other day, someone made a comment to me about how I seem to be well educated by the way I carry myself and the way that I speak. I took that as a huge compliment because I have worked so hard to stay educated. I want to stay in school because it will open doors for me in the future (career wise), yet I also do it for myself. I hope that with a broad educational background I will have more opportunities in life to have job flexibility and security. I want to be able to work at work and play at home. I would hate to neglect my children for my job, no matter how much I enjoy working. If I continue my education, I hope that I will be rewarded with a job that pays fair and has a good schedule. If I can manage that, I have succeeded!

The question about having an hour a more a day is very tricky. The key here is if I realized I had an hour a more a day, or if it was something with which I was accustomed. If my normal days were 25 hour days, sadly, I would probably fall into the same trap that I am in now. I would work just as hard and school and work would most likely cut into my leisure time. On the other hand, If a genie in bottle granted me an extra hour a day for the rest of my life, I would be grateful for the gift and use it towards my and my families’ advantage. If I had that extra hour a day, I would make certain that I had at least one meal with the family (and no tv) every day. I think it is so important to talk with your kids, if only for a short time. I would like to have a special time during the day where my family could share the stories of the day. I would make sure that I got more involved in my community and saw more of Albuquerque and Santa Fe. I would try to use the time to get some extra work done on Tuesday, for example, and take all of Wednesday off to hit the town. I would love to relax more with a glass of wine at the end of the day and just read a book that was not school related. If I knew that I had an extra hour a day, I would make a conscious effort to use it wisely and not just for work.

I don’t think that the trend of more work and less play is necessarily healthy. I think it is commendable that American’s have an overall strong work ethic, but I think that we have lost sight of what is truly important. If we are failing our children, we are failing our country. There needs to be some kind of change before we become a nation of robots that only has work on the forefront of everyday. There is absolutely no excuse for letting our children lose their childhood. I don’t think any amount of money is worth having your kids resent you. In order to change this mentality, though, we need to start putting so much energy on “stuff.” We need to switch gears and realize that the most advanced and the most modern and the flashiest is not necessarily the most important. May one way to change this mentality is to start implementing family education programs into our high schools. We need to start teaching kids at a young age that family is important. We need to help teach our youth that school is important, but for the right reasons. We need an education to advance to a comfortable position in life, and then family and happiness within are the most important values.

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Permalink Reply by suz on July 29, 2008 at 1:12pm

Do you think the career you're aiming for will give you the flexibiity you want?
dr p

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Permalink Reply by Tara on July 31, 2008 at 12:35pm

I think if I becoming a Teacher will give me more flexibility than being a parole officer. Teachers work hard and take a lot of work home but I would enjoy being off in the summer to travel If I can afford it.

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Permalink Reply by Jennifer Cohen on August 1, 2008 at 5:34pm

I hope so. I know that 24 hour shifts are NOT conducive to any kind of family life. (we are learning that now with a puppy!). I know that nursing has much more flexibility as long as I can continue to educate myself. I would love to teach someday, and if that does not have the flexibility myself and my family needs, I can look at hospital work, clinic work and maybe some research, too!

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Permalink Reply by Tara on July 30, 2008 at 1:19pm

In response to the question above economy is definitely not in our head. Economy isn't a physical thing but in includes many physical things. The economy has to do with all purchasing that goes on foreign and domestic. It also has to do with inflation and interest rates. These things affect what we can do with our money. The economy is measured by many things.
The economy is struggling now due to the energy pressures and the sub prime disaster. Basically since energy costs are so high and demand for energy is fairly inflexible, we have less money to spend on other goods. That means stores and manufactures have less money coming in and in turn less money to pay employees. This means job cuts so companies can meet revenue goals. It's a domino effect and the same applies to the sub prime disaster. Banks loan that money and are not getting it back because they gave out all these risky loans and now they are going in default. This hurts the Banks cash flow and is causing some banks or lenders to go out of business and causes more job cuts. There are many short term ideas for fixing the economy (gas tax break, more drilling for oil, etc) these for the most part are political gimmicks that will not stop the problem. We need long term solutions like alternative energy sources. We need to devote resources into research in the development of technologies that will help us produce alternative energy sources. There has never been such a high demand for these things but now the current state of our economy is driving the demand for alternative fuel sources.

Questions from our learning module.

1) Based on Schor’s work and what you’ve read how do you think pressures on your schedule have affected the time you spend on other activities? I don’t have children but I have a mother and boyfriend which is my family at home. I work full time and go to school semi-full time. My life revolves around time I’m always trying to find ways or think of ways to save time throughout my day. An example of this was earlier this week I drove all the way home from work which isn’t close on my lunch break to put a roast in the crock pot so I could save time on cooking dinner. This way I would have more time to work on homework in the evening. Pressures on my schedule have definitely affected the time I spend on other activities quite a bit. I have a membership through net-flix I have movies at home that I received in late may that I still have not watched. I feel like I don’t have time for activities other than school, work and things that need to be done around my home.

2) Do you agree with Schor on how various pressures have affected people generally in our society? I do agree that various pressures have affected people in our society. Each of us has our own daily pressures that take time away from other things we have going on in our lives. We have pressures at work, school, and from friends & family it can be hard to keep up.

3) Are you preparing for a job that will give you any flexibility or control over your time and which might pay a fair wage for a reasonable amount of work? My dream job would be one that offers both a fair wage and a flexible schedule. I have looked around and in my field of work and I never find anything like that it’s almost as if it’s obsolete. Unfortunately the job I am seeking after receiving my degree which is a parole officer will not offer me that either. When in that position I will even be making house calls possibly late at night and working long hours. That’s why I have recently considered getting a dual degree with my second one being teaching. I love to help people which is why I considered being in Parole hopefully to make a difference with the offenders. Being a teacher would give me the same satisfaction plus better hours and more time off with pay through out the year. Being a teacher would give me more flexibility if I have children one day I could be off when their off and I would get the same retirement being a teacher as I would if I was a parole officer.

4) If you had an hour more a day how would you spend that hour in terms of time for family, friends, community and volunteer activities, religion, personal physical and mental health, and school work? If I had an extra hour a day I would spend it relaxing with my family and adorable puppies I feel like sometimes I’m neglecting all of them. If I had an extra hour I would start reading the bible again. I know it’s awful that’s something I should do more often anyways. I say I am but never get around to it because there’s always something else that has to be done. If I had an extra hour I would maybe catch something good on TV every now and then. It’s amazing how much an extra hour makes a difference. Every once in a while I wont take a lunch and I leave work at 4:00 instead of 5:00 and I feel like I have so much more time. Having that extra time puts me in a better mood I feel like I don’t have to stress and rush as much. If I had an extra hour I would also use it to keep in touch with my family out of state. I am terrible with keeping in contact with them. I just feel like sometimes I don’t have the time for a long phone conversation.

5) Is this a trend that should continue and if not how might it be slowed down or reversed? I don’t think it’s a trend that should continue. In most of America I think we focus on how many things we can get done in one day I think it makes us feel accomplished. We don’t realize when we fit too much in something in our life is getting neglected or not as much time or care as it may need. I think we need to take a few steps and go back to the basics similar to how it was in the olden days. We weren’t reading a million emails at home or hearing two more phones ringing at home and having to answer them all. There weren’t as many TV channels before nor cable and kids didn’t have video games. I think families spent more time together before because there was less things available to keep us away from each other.

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Permalink Reply by suz on July 31, 2008 at 7:15am

Tara-
Perhaps a job here would be an interesting combo of both

http://alibi.com/index.php?scn=news&story=24070&fullstory=y

dr p

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Permalink Reply by Tara on July 31, 2008 at 12:36pm

Oh thank you.

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Permalink Reply by Heather Watson on July 30, 2008 at 10:41pm

1. Based on Schor's work and what I have read, I would agree that pressures on my schedule have affected me the same way it was presented in the article. The particular points that spoke to me regarded stress induced illnesses, lack of sleep, no family/self/couple/quiet/excersize time, and no my house doesn't get cleaned by anyone either (I don't count 1am sprints from appliance to appliance in a futile attempt to clean dishes and clothes). I have no idea how people with children go to school, work, and raise a family.
2. I would agree with Schor that people are affected by these pressures. There is a tendency to do things extremely fast, and products are targeted more toward convenience then ever before. Most programs offer quick results, such as dieting, excersize, learning a foreign language, anything really. It's because companies know you won't dedicate a chunck of time for yourself. They know you will feel that you don't deserve it. But if a program is offered just 1 hour a week, or minutes a day, or in a condensed audiobook you can listen to in your car, then you may fit the time in.
3. I would say that I am not preparing for a job that will give me any flexibility or control over my time. I am preparing for a job that will give me a fair wage however. Often I feel the need for a deadline or a full daily schedule, otherwise I simply don't get anything done. How does one prepare for a job that gives you control over your own time?
4. If I had an hour more a day it would be spent doing homework. If I was between semesters, it would be reading. I feel that society in general would value an extra hour for any of the causes listed, such as friends, community, religion; but the majority of society would fill that extra hour with getting more work done. There is a bit of guilt that is pressed upon some people not to take time out for themselves.
5. I believe if this trend should continue it will reach a breaking point where something will have to be done. The textbook explained the same situation regarding unions in the workforce. Employees will be treated so poorly, they will have no choice but to change. Another event that could happen, would be that business started to realize that overworked employees eventually become less productive; generating more sick days, workers are unmotivated, high turnover because of lack of job satisfaction. The businesses and corporations will institute mandatory vacation time, personal health care incentives, sponsor relaxation services and workshops.
The trend can be reversed by workers becoming aware of fatigue simptoms early on, and making changes to their work habits. Although in a society that has come to value the woman or man who has it all, it may be difficult.

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Permalink Reply by michael p jaramillo on July 31, 2008 at 6:25pm

There is no way the economy is all in our heads. Look at what is out there. If you dont own a home or a car, you will face difficulty in obtaining. Long gone are the days of no money down or having imperfect credit. Buying a car is going to be next to impossible if you dont have perfect credit. Credit cards are increasing their fees on the paying customer to make up for those who arent. Orange juice costs $6.99 a gallon. All of that is not in our heads. The car manufacturers announce today that leasing is going to be a thing of the future. SUVs that once drove this country are not selling and dealerships cant give them away. All of these things are real and they face each and every one of us. While gas prices are high, it isnt just gas that is merely the most obvious one. Look around your neighborhoods, how many houses are for sale? If you take the time to look, how many are being foreclosed? Business are shutting down, just drive down Central.

As for the economic prospects in New Mexico, I think they are bleak unless you have some job that has security such as the trades, teaching, law enforcement etc. Companies are closing at alarming rates and if individuals are not educated or have that practical work experience, they are not going to be able to find employment so easily. If you are one of the lucky ones that has job security, you have a good chance at providing yourself with a fairly good lifestyle here, but after looking at the statistics on poverty, I dont see that happening for many people.

The only suggestion I have is that you have to live within your means. You need to pay your bills before you spend otherwise you are going to get yourself into debt. That is exactly what happened to alot of people with the mortgages. They bought homes they really couldnt afford thinking that by the time they had to pay the loan itself back, they would have better jobs or a pay increase. Unfortunately for many, that didnt happen.

1) I find that I am unable to do alot of what I would like to do because I have to work for a living. Sometimes when I get home I have to be father and husband and that leaves little time for anythign else. Not that I dont enjoy it, but then my time is doing school work so where does the socialization component of it all come in to play? It doesnt. Next semester I will be husband, father, plumbing apprentice, full time college student and attending the union hall two nights a week to start my plumbing certification. Where in there am I suppose to find time for myself. I joined a gym, but havent had the time to go. I find the only time I have is on the weekends and then I choose sitting at home relaxing over going to church, which isnt good either.

2)Yes. People react to pressure in a different way. How we ended up working more hours but not producing as much is beyond me. I think that if we didnt allow ourselves to be pressured to do things and sat down and really thought about them, life would be so much easier. There is pressure from all angels in our lives that we are expected to deal with and all with a smile.

3)The job I am preparing for initially will not give me flexibilty, but in time it can if I make the right choices. Plumbers can work long hard hours, but if I choose to travel and make the extra money that way, put the money to the side, I can be able to afford to take a few weeks off where I can just relax. That wont be happening in the near future. What my job does provide for me is training, job security and fair wage. I may not always like the hard work, but when I get my paycheck every Friday, it certainly makes it all worth it. For me, that is what is important. I have a family to take care of and I dont want to have to worry about not getting a raise or not having a job. I dont have those concerns with my current field.I would eventually like to obtain a Masters in Social Work, but is because for my own satistifaction, I want to work with disadvantaged youth. I think that would ease my soul as far as being a productive member of society and accomplishing something that I can be proud of.

4) No, I dont think this is a trend that should continue. I think that this country needs to reevaluate what is going on. No successful business will tolerate longer work hours with less productivity. We need to examine the practices in this country compared to Europe where they seem to be much more successful than we are. If we dont, we arent going to be a power in the world economy and based on own spending habits, I dont think that we can afford that.

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Permalink Reply by babyisaiashmom on August 1, 2008 at 8:20pm

I think that we as American spend more time at work than we should. I do spend 11 hours a day at work in addition to going to school and it seems as if though I do not have time for any leisure activities. I agree with Scholr's work because it is true that the pressures from work they do affect how much leisure time we have. I think if I had more leisure time and less work time I would spend the extra time enjoying nature and spending time with my two year old son.. I think that as Americans we spend more time at work than doing leisure activities because we are so consumed in debt and we are working to purpose things that we want to have. I would like a job where it has some flexibility and I would be able to handle my scedule a little bit better.

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Permalink Reply by Andria on August 2, 2008 at 11:25am

Is the economy all in our heads? I think that a lot of it is, when it comes to the U.S. being a consumer society. Most of it is mental when it comes to buying things that we don't necessarily need. Even when it comes to buying food, clever commercials make you think that you should have what they are trying to sell. Some economic prospects could include the use new technologies,creating, developing and up grading hardware and software, and use of the Internet and the world wide web to find jobs.
I definitely think that the pressures of my schedule have affected the time I spend on other activities. I am a full time student, wife and mother of two children. Everything we do has to be scheduled from the time we get up to bed time. Most days there isn't enough time to get everything done. Some things do get left behind,(exercise, dishes) in hopes to catch up the next day...
I do agree that various pressures have affected people generally in our society. The pressures to get things done without failure can be overwhelming to some, raising blood pressures and tensions between family members causing child or spousal abuse, or even outside the home, one example would be road rage.
I really have had a hard time finding a career that will fulfill my needs. I am lucky to have a supportive husband who has given me all the time I need to figure it out. I have chosen to go into the IT (Information Technology) field in hopes to keep my schedule flexible, so that I can tend to myself and family needs.
One extra hour a day would still not be enough time for me to do all that I would like to do. But if I had and extra hour I would probably use it to sleep!
I don't believe that this trend will ever slow down. Unless we are all given the things we want for free, we will be forced to work harder then ever to get it.

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Permalink Reply by bekind on August 2, 2008 at 3:30pm

1> I know I spend a lot less time on/ with my family due to work and school. I know I stress a lot because of home work that is due and about the time it takes to do it all. I also am sleep deprived because I stay up till 230 am doing homework and that the time earlier in the evening is spent with my family so I get a little enjoyable down time after dinner and school.

2> Yes, I agree, I think more people today worrying about not spending enough time with their kids or putting more time-in on their relationship. I also think most people are stressed about their income, debt and insurance. And finally we are all sleep deprived.

3>I am going into nursing so I will have a lot of control over the hours I work, where, and how much money I can make. That makes me very happy that I will have that flexibility to spend more time with my family.

4> If I had one more hour a day, I would spend it with my family, no doubt, time goes by so fast and life is shorter for some than others, so one must spend as much time with the people you love.

5> I think the economic trend will continue. I think our government has become too big with too many people with to many different agendas that things cannot change. I also believe that people are not willing to help others, they don’t care or realize that if you bring a section of our society up who isn’t fairing as well it would not only enhance their life but our own overall. I also believe that people like the haves and have not’s, but they like to be the haves! And yes this widening gap will continue until the system breaks. in addition I think the trend should not continue and to stop it the government show stop bailing out companies who do reckless operations and go under let them go under or put people in jail who rip-off others one person in the whole Enron fiasco went to jail how is that possible with all the money and retirement pensions lost, they were order to pay some small amount back which is totally ridiculous. our government say we for capitalism but we give tax breaks and subsidies to company who don’t need them who shouldn’t get them, if your making billions profit you don’t need it, I am sure you would survive with out them. Those kinds of thing should be used for companies who are starting out and need help; it shouldn’t be a safety net for the rich. banks are the same way they give loans, credit cards to people who shouldn’t have them who incomes shows that they can’t afford it or they refinance homes two, three times, if people can’t make it on their own what makes you think taking more money and debt on their homes is going to fix anything. These people should lose their jobs and give them to people who would actually try to run a business right, sounds harsh but I think there are many qualified people out their who would like opportunity to run a business. Also not the lower employees who don’t make the real money decisions, but all the higher up people who sigh for releases of funds if we are to bail them out then that’s how it should be done if they don’t like it then go under. Also stop letting companies out course with out putting heavy taxes on reentry goods, call it an replacement tax for the loss of jobs and the negative impact there will have on our country, granted I don’t have a problem with them moving but I do have a big problem with them moving and paying people very little and selling their products for the same price here. They use children and the employees they use are living in squalor, there basically slaves, how you do that to people? Not to mention they pollute the country which comes back on all of us and our children. As far a New Mexico is concerned we should focus more on health care, bring jobs here, raising the minimum wage to ten an hour and using our money more efficiently, we are in an economic down turn and I like to know why they choose to build train that uses gas instead of energy magnetic trains, which by the way are better for the environment.

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