Issue #1 — “Joy in Labor”

Issue #1: “Joy in Labor”

Issue Contents

Hue (theory)
The Old Is Dying and the New is Struggling to be Born

Hearth (practice)
Must a good job be freely chosen?
Hope for the Quiet Quitter

Reflection
American Cinquains, Vol. I

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Pablo’s Note:
The birth of something new. The title of our first issue — “Joy in Labor” — has double meaning. The first entry is about new birth, and the period of labor that precedes it. The following two entries discuss what it means to be a contributist at work — what is good labor? Lastly, some cinquains, submitted by our readers. We received so many that we decided to make a series of it. Please continue to write and send them in to [email protected].

Thank you for giving us your time, and a special thank you to everyone who chose to contribute.

Pablo Parabola

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Hue (theory)

The Old Is Dying and the New is Struggling to be Born
(Est. Reading Time: 2 minutes)
“The contributist—seeing opportunities to give—conceptualizes and acts within the world differently from the critic. What once looked like deprivation is now an opportunity for generosity.”

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Hearth (practice)

Must a good job be freely chosen?
(Est. Reading Time: 6 minutes)
“We want to build societies where everyone has some freedom to choose their job. However, unlimited freedom isn’t always the goal, because people can choose for good or ill, and freedom of choice won’t lead in itself to a more contributist society.”

Hope for the Quiet Quitter
(Est. Reading Time: 7 minutes)
“Quiet quitting is not an aspiration, it’s a resignation. And if the quiet quitter and his employer can’t reconcile, I suspect that he’d probably be better off making it official and finding new employment. But let’s hope that they can find it in themselves to give.”

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Reflection
“Attention is the rarest and purest form of generosity.” — Simone Weil

American Cinquains, Vol. I
(Est. Reading Time: 2 minutes)
(printed in full below)

Georges Seurat, Farm Women at Work, 1882-83

American Cinquains, Vol. I

I. Gladness

    Can work
    Come with gladness?
    Can backs bend, then unbend,
    Eyes smiling, proud and free of rage
    And pain?
 

II. Motive

    Giving
    Looks like taking
    Except to those involved.
    How often Joy hangs on motive
    And love
 

III. “Alexa, search attention”

    How might
    we pay mind to
    all it is to be alive?
    Not that which can be data-mined?
    For now. 
 

IV.  Climbers

    I've seen
    Many climbers
    Who fell upwards at work
    Still looking for Something up there
    In vain
 

V. Fruits of My Labor

    Morning 
    Dew has given 
    Fresh opportunity
    Plucked from the vine before it is
    Past ripe
 

VI. Critique

    Critique
    Can tear Old down
    But cannot build the New
    So we stand in our own rubble
    And wait
 

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