tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3744476144670229998.post6682703398360345556..comments2024-02-06T12:33:57.316+00:00Comments on Stuart Aken: ‘Work Hard And You’ll Succeed’; The Biggest Lie?stuartaken.nethttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05695584662320617659noreply@blogger.comBlogger6125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3744476144670229998.post-84271964575458080092012-08-31T14:03:09.029+01:002012-08-31T14:03:09.029+01:00Thanks for your contribution, Silversongbird (what...Thanks for your contribution, Silversongbird (what an exotic name). I think you're concluding remarks make the most cogent point. Luck is a huge part of success; sometimes that's the luck of time and place, sometimes the luck of parentage, sometimes the 'luck' of such a loose conscience that crime holds no dread. <br />I suspect we could all recount a tale or two along the same lines as you give for both your father and your husband. I know I could!stuartaken.nethttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05695584662320617659noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3744476144670229998.post-32992657954604126642012-08-31T09:31:39.475+01:002012-08-31T09:31:39.475+01:00I absolutely agree with you and Penny. Working har...I absolutely agree with you and Penny. Working hard on its own doesn't guarantee anything except exhaustion. My Dad, foreman for a rural district council, worked himself into a heart attack going out at all hours if there was a problem. Did the 'powers' thank him? No. His immediate boss managed to build himself a lovely house, take long holidays and garner reward for a well run department all on the back of my father's sweat. When he finally had his second heart attack and had to give up work, they didn't even give him any kind of recognition for the years of toil. <br />Look at all our writing friends. They flog themselves to a custard trying to write well, run a home, pay bills, hold down a job. Do we know any bestselling millionaires who work harder than we do? My husband worked himself into a nervous breakdown in 2000. Newly promoted as the manager of a section without a director, he tried for 18 months to hold everything together before imploding. His boss's reaction when told he had to go home was 'Yes, right. Well, before you go , can you just...". The company demoted him and his appraisal was marked as 'adequate' - 2 of those and they give you a P45. <br />The subject has such wide implications that it's difficult to say what causes most offence. Morals have never played a part in moneymaking of any type, which is why huge profitable companies can tell their much smaller suppliers that they will take 90 days before paying them, but who insist that their own invoices get paid within 30. <br />So, what makes the difference? I think it is sheer luck. Being in the right place at the right time. And that has absolutely nothing to do with working hard.April Taylorhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09323616899009501244noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3744476144670229998.post-63801289282518378422012-08-30T20:28:32.979+01:002012-08-30T20:28:32.979+01:00Thanks for your thoughts, Penny. As you say, the s...Thanks for your thoughts, Penny. As you say, the system protects those who currently have the advantage and ensures it stays with them. There is enough to go round and make everyone comfortable but the currently obscene wealth differential, with some individuals possessing personal wealth in the £Bns and others existing on less than £1 a day, is unjust and ultimately bad for the whole of society.stuartaken.nethttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05695584662320617659noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3744476144670229998.post-76259948122884574702012-08-30T20:12:10.692+01:002012-08-30T20:12:10.692+01:00It's complex, no black and white arguments or ...It's complex, no black and white arguments or answers, as you rightly say. Hard work can bring reward but you have to be lucky enough to have access to the 'right' sort of hard work. If you work very long hours for very low pay - as millions do - to support yourself and your family, you have little energy or time to find new avenues. And it is in the interests of the status quo to keep wages low for the low paid. It would completely upset the system to pay everyone in the world a living wage. It's not in the interests of the majority of people in the world but it's in the interests of... well... those who were lucky enough to make it to the thin end of the pyramid, I suppose. It protects the system that keeps the majority at the fat end.<br />What is unpalatable when you look at the effect on people (if you care about such things) is that those at the base of the pyramid are so disproportionately disadvantaged when there is clearly enough to go round.Penny Grubbhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10321603664734033057noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3744476144670229998.post-24786300786570552432012-08-30T16:09:56.107+01:002012-08-30T16:09:56.107+01:00Yes, Jack, the process develops, becomes more soph...Yes, Jack, the process develops, becomes more sophisticated, and captures more. And who gains? Only those who already have, of course.stuartaken.nethttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05695584662320617659noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3744476144670229998.post-42396712450175522022012-08-30T15:29:33.677+01:002012-08-30T15:29:33.677+01:00And then there is the latest twist currently in fa...And then there is the latest twist currently in fashion here in the UK to consider Stuart where the young get fired on some flimsy pretext, only to be re-employed under one or other of the work schemes where they get paid less for the same hours. <br /><br />Work hard and you will be successful? Don't make me laugh! Jack Easonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13601041734648407356noreply@blogger.com