Brilliant Thoughts by Ashleigh Brilliant Born London, 1933. Mother Canadian. Father a British civil servant. World War II childhood spent mostly in Toronto and Washington, D.C. Berkeley PhD. in American History, 1964. Living in Santa Barbara with wife Dorothy since 1973. No children. Best-known for his illustrated epigrams, called “Pot-Shots”, now a series of 10,000. Email ashleigh@west.net or visit www.ashleighbrilliant.com
Love of Labor
I
t has always seemed ironical to me that the dream of past ages was to escape the necessity to work. People imagined a time of ease, when all good things would come without effort. They sang about The buzzin’ of the bees in the cigarette trees, The soda-water fountain, The lemonade springs where the bluebird sings, And that big rock-candy mountain. This yearning culminated during the last two centuries in a whole deluge of “labor-saving” devices. In fact, one reason (or justification) for the end of slavery was that machines could now do the same tasks as humans, and do them more effectively. But here comes the irony: today there is a resounding cry for “jobs.” The statistics on “employment” and “unemployment” are considered to be a major measure of a nation’s economic health. How can these mixed messages be sorted out? What is “toil,” and at what point does it become “therapeutic exercise?” When does hard manual labor become psychologically beneficial? Why are not conscripted military service and compulsory school attendance considered forms of slavery? Is “work” just a state of mind? I myself have lived into my 80s with only brief periods of regular fulltime employment. But I have to admit sometimes feeling that I may have missed out on one of life’s great experiences – not only having workmates, being part of a team, striving toward a common goal, but even just the orderly structure of daily routine. Of course, “work,” even though it seems to be as much – or even more – in demand than ever, has changed in its nature. Now that we have machines to do most of the “heavy lifting,” we need people to make, tend, and operate those machines. Relatively few of us need to get our hands dirty on a daily basis. But the time required to keep society running smoothly is not yet much less than it has always been. Speaking of “heavy lifting,” it still impresses me to see how one man or woman can easily operate a fork-lift or a bulldozer, and single-handedly (so to speak) lift, move, and re-arrange enormous masses of material. And, to take this process a long 8 – 15 September 2016
step further, the physically or mentally impaired, once considered unemployable can now, with the aid of technology, do many kinds of useful work. So, it seems we are as far away as ever from the Lemonade Springs and the Big Rock Candy Mountain. Most people in a certain, broad age range still have what are called “jobs,” and (incredible as it may seem in the light of history) many of those who don’t have them wish they did. Vast numbers of government employees (sometimes dignified as “Civil Servants”) have as their assigned work the task of helping other people find jobs of their own. The jobs can vary tremendously in what is required and how it is remunerated. But there is an increasing trend away from physical activity. It wasn’t until the 1990s that I had my first real insight into this process. I was gathering signatures on a petition and was sometimes allowed to do this in office buildings and other workplaces. Somehow, I had retained a notion that such facilities were visibly and audibly hives of activity, with people rushing around amid the ringing of phones and the clatter of typewriters. But the many different places I went into were nearly always quiet, and most of the people I saw were just seated at desks, looking at screens. That was practically a generation ago, and even then I somehow felt I was living in the future. Of course, these trends have only become more pronounced since then. I have a friend who for some months had a job fixing computers at a large facility. But one of his chief complaints about the work was that it involved too much walking between various buildings and departments. I couldn’t help recalling pictures of office workers (perhaps in Japan) being required to get up and exercise. In the great days of workers’ movements, there was much talk about the “dignity of labor.” In Britain, Labor even gave its name to one of the major political parties. In Soviet Russia, the concept became almost a religion, under the icon of the Hammer and Sickle, symbolizing workers at factory and farm. What we need is some new symbol to represent the non-manual workers of today. (Surely, the “white collar” can hardly be a good fit any•MJ more.)
Showtimes for September 9-15 H = NO PASSES
FAIRVIEW
225 N FAIRVIEW AVE, GOLETA H THE WILD LIFE B Fri: 3:00,
7:30; Sat & Sun: 12:45, 3:00, 7:30; Mon to Thu: 3:00, 7:30 H THE WILD LIFE 3D B 5:15 PM NO MANCHES FRIDA C Fri: 2:40, 5:20, 8:00; Sat & Sun: 12:00, 2:40, 5:20, 8:00; Mon to Wed: 2:40, 5:20, 8:00; Thu: 2:40, 5:20 KUBO AND THE TWO STRINGS B Fri: 2:45, 5:10; Sat & Sun: 12:15, 2:45, 5:10; Mon to Thu: 2:45, 5:10 FLORENCE FOSTER JENKINS C 7:45 PM H BRIDGET JONES’S BABY E Thu: 8:00 PM
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8 WEST DE LA GUERRA PLACE, SANTA BARBARA H SULLY C Fri to Sun: 12:00,
2:20, 4:45, 7:10, 9:30; Mon to Thu: 2:20, 4:45, 7:10 H THE DISAPPOINTMENTS ROOM E 12:25, 2:40, 5:00, 7:20, 9:40 THE LIGHT BETWEEN OCEANS C Fri to Sun: 12:20, H SULLY C 12:30, 1:30, 2:50, 3:20, 6:20, 9:20; Mon to Thu: 2:10, 4:30, 7:30 3:50, 5:10, 6:10, 7:30, 8:40, 9:55 HELL OR HIGH WATER E Fri to Sun: 11:45, 2:10, 4:40, 7:15, MORGAN E 1:00 PM 9:45; Mon to Wed: 2:00, 5:15, 7:45; Thu: 2:00, 5:15 E DON’T BREATHE FLORENCE FOSTER Fri to Wed: 1:15, 3:30, 5:45, 8:00, JENKINS C Fri to Sun: 11:50, 10:10; Thu: 1:15, 3:30, 5:45 2:25, 5:00; Mon to Thu: 2:50, 5:25 BAD MOMS E Fri to Sun: 7:30, HELL OR HIGH WATER E 9:55; Mon to Thu: 8:00 PM Fri to Wed: 1:20, 3:45, 6:30, 9:00; H SNOWDEN E Thu: 7:45 PM Thu: 1:20, 3:45, 6:30, 10:00
FIESTA 5
2044 ALAMEDA PADRE SERRA, SUICIDE SQUAD C SANTA BARBARA Fri to Wed: 3:25, 6:20, 9:10; MIA MADRE E Fri: 5:00, 7:30; Thu: 3:25 PM
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H WHEN THE BOUGH BREAKS C Fri to Sun: 11:50, H BLAIR WITCH E Thu: 7:45, 10:00 2:20, 4:50, 7:20, 9:50; Mon to Thu: 2:20, 5:10, 7:45 H SNOWDEN E Thu: 7:00, 9:10 H THE WILD LIFE B Fri to Sun: 11:45, 2:00, 6:30, 8:45; METRO 4 to Thu: 2:00, 6:30 618 STATE STREET, ARLINGTON Mon SANTA BARBARA H THE WILD LIFE 3D B 4:15 PM MORGAN E H THE DISAPPOINTMENTS 1317 STATE STREET, Fri to Sun: 10:00 PM; ROOM E Fri to Sun: 12:55, 3:15, SANTA BARBARA Mon to Thu: 7:30 PM 5:30, 7:50, 10:10; Mon to Thu: 3:15, NO MANCHES FRIDA C 5:30, 7:50 H SULLY C Fri to Sun: 1:00, Fri to Sun: 12:50, 3:45, 6:40, 9:20; DON’T BREATHE E 3:20, 5:45, 8:10; Mon to Thu: 3:20, Mon to Thu: 2:40, 5:20, 8:00 Fri to Sun: 12:45, 3:00, 5:15, 7:30, 5:45, 8:10 KUBO AND THE TWO 9:45; Mon to Thu: 3:00, 5:15, 8:10 STRINGS B Fri to Sun: 12:00, SAUSAGE PARTY E PLAZA DE ORO 2:30, 7:30; Mon to Thu: 2:30 PM Fri to Sun: 1:40, 7:00; KUBO AND THE TWO Mon to Thu: 2:40, 8:00 371 SOUTH HITCHCOCK WAY, STRINGS 3D B 5:00 PM SUICIDE SQUAD C SANTA BARBARA Fri to Sun: 4:00, 9:20; WAR DOGS E Fri to Sun: 7:00, Mon to Thu: 5:00 PM 9:40; Mon to Wed: 2:10, 7:15; A TALE OF LOVE AND JASON BOURNE C Thu: 2:10 PM DARKNESS C 2:40, 5:05 Fri to Sun: 1:00, 3:50, 6:40, 9:30; PETE’S DRAGON B Mon to Wed: 2:30, 5:20, 7:30; Fri to Sun: 11:40, 2:05, 4:30; CAFÈ SOCIETY C 7:30 PM Mon to Thu: 4:50 PM Thu: 2:30, 5:20 H BLAIR WITCH E H BRIDGET JONES’S Thu: 7:30 PM EQUITY E 2:55, 5:20, 7:45 BABY E Thu: 7:15 PM CHECK OUT OUR NEW WEBSITE! www.metrotheatres.com 877-789-MOVIE Sat: 2:30, 5:00, 7:30; Sun: 12:00, 2:30, 7:30; Mon: 5:00 PM; Tue: 7:30 PM; Wed: 5:00 PM; Thu: 5:00, 7:30
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The car has become the carapace, the protective and aggressive shell, of urban and suburban man. – Marshall McLuhan
MONTECITO JOURNAL
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