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JANITORIAL WORK ISN'T SCIENCE- PUBLIC SERVICE ANNOUNCEMENT (Salem)
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I recently looked in Science job listings in the Salem/ Portland region and saw a listing for " Environmental technician". After clicking on the listing and reading for about 2 seconds I realized that this was actually just a janitorial role that had been re-branded as " environmental". I'm wondering if this makes it seem more dignified than it is, or what? Get more science minded people clicking it?
I realize that the job market in Salem is total shit, especially for educated people. Dominated by production lines, warehouses, forklift, and poverty wage general labor.
I also realize there's this weird ass expectation that all labor is treated as equal and interchangeable, or " work is work" , or " all work has dignity". I'm not entertaining it, especially if it leads to bullshit like this.
Reality has outpaced the cultural expectations native to Salem Oregon. Not all labor is interchangeable, especially for college educated people. Maybe it made sense back in the 50's when someone picking berries in a field for a summer could afford to buy a sport car with those wages. Now? Oh, yes. Expect people to be grateful for a paltry $15 per hour that doesn't buy shit. Let's not ignore the fact that most of the time benefits are not offered, and even if they were a person working this garbage would never be able to afford a house or property.
TLDR :Stop labeling toilet water like it's holy.
Lets add this section:
I am under no obligation to collapse my identity for shit that won't support any kind of life.
You want to know what I did instead? I started a business where I make and sell fossil replicas and educational materials. If I don't have access to original materials, I will buy a cast from someone else and replicate that. Often times doing it better with stronger materials ( pay $ 700 for cheap, hollow, plastic shell with crap paint job and recast it as solid, strong resin with decent paint).
This isn't stealing, this isn't piracy, this isn't morally wrong ( although museums, institutions, and the companies selling cheap casts will frame it that way). Copyright does not protect fossils or their casts in the USA. And guess what, museums and other fabricators do the exact same thing, it's only wrong when it inconveniences them.
And you know what. Business may be slow, may be inconsistent, and may not be big enough to support myself on yet. But I would rather invest all my energy into growing it than work some shitty $20 per hour warehouse job when I can make $20 in 5 minutes painting a dilo tooth cast. Even if it's in a " morally grey" zone.
I no longer accept the moral legitimacy of labor systems that flatten specialization into interchangeable low-wage throughput.
So fuck this shitty labor market, and you know what. Fuck the hypocrisy of society in general.