Sure, I’m one of those kids. The ones from the late seventies, early eighties. The ones pampered in love and great expectations. The ones raised as princess and princesses, whining every time they break a nail. The one’s stamping their feet and banging their fists when they don't get their way. The ones that call in sick when the promotion they think they deserve is not given to them. The ones that get depressed when life doesn’t live up to their dreams. The ones that, according to some, need rigid, military-like re-direction to get them on track and learn that life just isn't always fair.
Generation X, Generation O, The Lost Generation, whatever you want to call us, are a growing pain in the ass of employers and governments worldwide that see expanding parts of their workforce on long sick leaves suffering from this strange disease called 'burn-out'. I feel for them, I truly do, but let's be honest for a moment:
Just Do it, Think different, Because you're worth it, Work hard, Play Hard, It's better to Burn Out than to fade away, No Fear, Reach for the Moon, Pick up a Star. Do any of these slogans sound familiar to you? Probably. Do you know why? Because it was not only our parents telling us we ought to be special. Marketers made great money by making us feel bold, unbreakable and special. And there was Hollywood that made us believe we first had to save the planet -or the entire universe- in order to get a beautiful girl. MTV, Bling Bling, Money, Money, Money, Moooneyyy and all that stuff. Capitalism promised us status, financial safety, job certainty and health insurance. All we had to do is not be lazy, work hard, study hard and we would get rewarded because 'Good things come to those who sweat' right? Talk about peer pressure.
So: What made it impossible for me to work for people that are incapable of saying ‘Thank you’ and 'I’m sorry’ any longer?
Working in Afganistan
I did it all. I worked the long over hours. Went around the world and got paid crappy wages to cover war zones and disaster areas. I did my tour of duty and I paid my dues. I was exactly what was expected of me: hard working, ambitious, professional and easy going. Willing to put anything aside in sake of the company and the stories we made for television. This was possible because my mother raised me to be compassionate and care about my dreams and doing good, more than about my bank account.
My mother raised me to be compassionate and care about my dreams and doing good, more than about my bank account.
Unfortunately, this was the complete opposite of the way managers looked at things back in the day. To me it seemed they were raised by the famous words of Niccolo Machiavelli stating 'It is better to be feared than loved.' and that they were interpreting them all wrong.
Seen from a -Survival of the Fittest, Kill em all Before they Kill You, Dog eat Dog, It's a Jungle out There- capitalistic point of view the right was definitely on their side and they had all the freedom to manage their workforce as Don Corleone would lead a mafia organisation.
Managers could go long ways in their budget cuts because the passionate and perfectionist workers made in the eighties and nineties accept to sell their hard labour for pennies for some time as long as they are feeling they are doing the right thing professionally, passionately and creatively. It is only when the managers get really greedy and start taking that passion for granted that a line is being crossed and a burn-out is at risk.
It is only when the managers get really greedy and start taking our passion for granted that a line is being crossed and a burn-out is at risk.
We must remember that the capitalistic dream did not come true to our generation. We work long, flexible hours and contracts for low wages. We already suffer job-uncertainty, housing uncertainty, pension uncertainty and on top of that managers start going after our passions and using our fear of losing the little we have against us in order to make their profit. The freedom to 'just leave a job' is not always evident and there is always the unfairness that treating your boss the way he treats you would probably get you fired. But this seems to be the status quo we face.
And there is always the unfairness that treating your boss the way he treats you would probably get you fired.
So although this burned-out generation has a tendency to stay strong for a long time, eventually enough really is enough. And if your mouth doesn't tell it out of fear and uncertainty, your body will ultimately collapse in exhaustion.
This is not because we're tired of working, it's because we are tired of being treated poorly by people who think they can put pressure on us just because they pay us our wages and feel they don't even have the need to say 'please' or 'thank you' just because they have some power over our financial life. They fail to understand that to us, respect is free and much more powerful than their money, and that we need a certain minimum of both to be able to live a healthy life.
They fail to understand that to us, respect is free and much more powerful than money, and that we need a certain minimum of both to be able to live a healthy life.
But once all boundaries have been surpassed and your unstoppable burn-out revolution has started, managers tend to get in full denial like thieves that are caught red-handed. Blaming the passionate one for his passion like blaming a Rose for its beauty. Acting like they never asked you to be the best you can be and denying any form of profit your hard work has made them. Treating your psychological illness as some kind of leprosy and refusing to even say 'Sorry.' for mistakes they might have made helping to cause your illness as this could be seen as a confession of their incompetence as leaders. Not even saying 'Thank you.' for all the work you have done for them as they feel you now hurt them more than they hurt you by being 'sick'.
They want to get rid of you as fast as they can because passion that revolts can be a hell of a financial threat. A threat that the insurance companies can't deal with and so they will choose to put even more pressure on you in order to make you feel even sicker and more uncertain so you either go back to the people that took advantage of you or give up the job you love.
I'm glad I did not have to do either and I hope I managed to make clear why it is impossible for me to work for people that are incapable of saying ‘Thank you’ and 'I’m sorry’ any longer. Like I said: Never in my life would I have dreamed that hard work, loyalty, integrity, honesty and a bit of talent would get me fired, but it did... Because my mother told me well!
I would suggest managers and politicians would take note of the fact burned out people are not lazy quitters, but mainly hard workers that were badly listened to.
Alexander Koning is an Amsterdam based visual artist and filmmaker currently trying to put his finger on the mechanisms behind the burn-out epidemic that seems to overflood the Western society and ways to re-organize it in a healthier way.