A versus V (or My Personal Pipe Dream)

I think I am onto something. Hear me out, this is not one of my crazy plans to rule the world. That sort of ended when I realized that the P-52 Space Modulator is not even real!

I am not a Sociologist, but I do have a knack for paying attention to how we live our lives and how people interact. The fact that our society is marred with issues and problems is not unique. While we magnify the controversies of our day, each society throughout history has had its fair share of scandal, debate, pressures and wrongdoings. Look at The Plague – how fun could that have been? Mankind has often faced challenges and We Of the Modern Age have it no differently. I can only care about the context of our time, so I thus offer the following hypothesis.

We need to reduce our definition of success. Okay, maybe that isn’t a hypothesis but let me explain.

I work a modest living at a good school and take what probably falls into the realm of an “average” commute back and forth each day. I can’t complain. I have it easier than a lot of people and find great satisfaction in my career. Still, I spend more time with my co-workers than I do with my kids.

There is something wrong with our society when I have time for in-depth conversations with a math teacher and only enough time to recap the day and preview what’s on the docket for tomorrow with my wife. Don’t get me wrong, the match teacher is a good guy, but that fact alone magnifies what is wrong with how we live in the modern day.

We need to experience a cultural shift, one that is serious and real and refocuses what truly matters to us as a people. I will call it the A versus V Societal Shimmy. “A” relates to Accomplishment; “V” relates to Value. What we value is accomplishment, yet what we should try to accomplish is a refocusing of our values.

We need to change from an accomplishment-centric people to a value-centric people.

We need, quite simply, to find a way to live better, and the solution isn’t all that hard to imagine. I certainly am not calling for a hippy commune of shared survival. We have to work, and we have responsibility. Things need to get done. I just want us to value our lives more and work less. Is that so much to ask?

I propose we advance to a four-day work week and close all non-essential services for two of the three days that we are off. This does not need to extend the weekend; maybe we could take a mid-week break. Work Monday and Tuesday, rest up on Wednesday, return to work for two days before the weekend. Huh? What do you think? How cool would that be? I don’t care whether it is cool or not, I know it could restore a focus on valuing our lives and our time and our society, if we use the time wisely.

I get it – competition breeds hard work, hard work creates success, success leads to a better life and the cycle goes on and on. But when does such a maddening cycle stop!?! It doesn’t. And that is the root of our problems; our problems are so out of control that we just don’t know what to do. But wasn’t success supposed to allow for leisure time? Time to spend with, oh I don’t know…family?

If we claim to support, and want to foster, and even propose to need, the ever-popular “family values,” I think it is high time we change how we function as a society. If we find a way to truly encourage family values, then maybe we would improve some of the things that ail us in the twenty-first century. Again, I am no expert in Sociology, but my hunch is that with a better core value, we could do away with such things as…gee, I don’t know, the pressure of a list... How about we abolish hatred, prejudice, laziness, teen pregnancy, drug abuse, alcoholism, domestic violence, suicide and the drop-out rate for starters? With a value-focused life directed toward true family time, these all can disappear.

Instead of trying to fix these problems, why don’t we look at them as symptoms of a bigger problem!?! That problem being how we live and how we balance our time.

The problem is we push too much toward Accomplishment and care too little about Value.

I don’t care what you have accomplished in your life, tell me what you value.

It doesn’t matter how you spend your family time, it’s about returning the “value” to the phrase family values. If you enjoy going to the park as a family, grab that basket and go! If prayer is your thing for the family, churches on nearly every main street in America will open their doors to you. Go Episcopalian, Lutheran, Catholic, Jewish, Buddhism, it doesn’t matter to me. If sports bring you together, coach up, buy tickets, wear jerseys, though I suggest you leave the beer at home. (Sorry, no plan is perfect!) Movies can be family time – if you talk about them beforehand and afterward. Teach your kids by teaching them how to ask questions. Why was the film script written? What was unique about the setting? There is even an opportunity to take a tour. If you loved a movie, tour the city in which it was filmed. That would be neat.

The point is simple – there are a lot of ways to spend time together. But first we need to change how we go about life in order to have more time together…and that is where A slams into V and causes chaos. (I wish I had that math teacher handy to draw up a formula that would describe that better. Inertia and energy and unstoppable forces, that sort of diagram.)

This is not Utopian banter. I realize life cannot be perfect and peaceful and bursting with free time for everyone; someone has to work. I am willing to do my fair share. But, what if we just cut down on the amount of progress we need to record? What if the seven day week became a week of four work days and three family days? Not leisure time, not get stupid drunk time, certainly not “let’s-shop-more-there-might-be-a-sale” time either! Just time. Time to refocus our values.

It seems to me that we have accelerated the human experience. We live faster, worry about deadlines more and push, push, push to get things done, acquire more goods, make more money and ultimately live unfulfilled lives. Guess what? The only time we cannot control is the minute we die, and then we will be lying there wishing we had all those days back.