Conclusion
More could be said about the community and how work relates to generational linkages. Furthermore, what must be left unanswered here is a detailed account of the civil order that coheres best with this view of work. It certainly lends itself to certain “third-way” perspectives, such as the “economic humanism” of Schumacher, the humane economy of Wilhelm Ropke, the “gift economy” model, and perhaps some form of Proudhon’s anarchism and syndicalism. The thought of social theorists, such as Jacques Ellul, who critiqued the “technique” in the liberal order, and Wendell Barry and Joel Salatin, who have criticized corporate farming practices and other features of modern economic life, might cohere well with my account of meaningful work. Even some small-scale liberal economic orders could work as well. I see nothing in my account that necessarily precludes wage systems, property, or the market exchange, though species of each would prove detrimental or destructive of meaningful work. Furthermore, there can be instances of personal relations of production in local communities and perhaps in isolated establishments even in the most liberal of economies, despite the seemingly relentless drive for modern capitalism to root out such relations. But there is no room to discuss all this in detail.
What I’ve tried to emphasize is that work requires some form of local community with people seeking forms of life in common that, at least in some small way, distinguishes them from others, not in a jingoistic fashion, but as a self-affirming community pursuing the common good across generations. In such a community, people know each other as more than individuals in mutual alliance with a self-interest to live; rather they are a people desiring to communicate to one another their gifts for the best collective life possible, to live well. Work must play a central role and emphasis in that. E. F. Schumacher rightfully said in Small is Beautiful,
Above anything else there is need for a proper philosophy of work which understands work not as that which it has indeed become, an inhuman chore as soon as possible to be abolished by automation, but as something ‘decreed by Providence for the good of man’s body and soul.’ Next to the family, it is work and the relationships established by work that are the true foundations of society.
But replacing the foundation of society is as hard as it looks. Still, when looking closely, there are places in the Western world that fight for meaningful work. One example will suffice.
There is a small restaurant in Oxford, Alabama called Garfrerick’s Café. Here the excellent food is complemented by an atmosphere of collective ownership. The workers do not, to my knowledge, own as legal property any portion of the business, but the restaurant owner has brought them into the life of the business. The chefs cook in a sizable portion of the main floor separated only by a row of seating similar to bar seating. This allows diners to interact with the chefs and compliment directly to them on the quality of the food. It brings everyone into a producer/consumer relationship that affirms everyone involved. Added to this, the small farm associated with the restaurant, also owned by the restaurant owner and from which comes much of the food served there, is a place of learning for the chefs, waiters and bartenders. The owner brings them into the farm-to-table process. It is an option for the workers to join the life-process of the business by visiting and working on the farm. The workers then are part of a family of sorts in which the satisfaction of the customer satisfies the family. The owner has deliberately followed an important principle: he has brought his workers into face-to-face relations with their customers to confirm the qualities of their work.
This essay then is firstly not a critique of the current economic order, though it does that in consequence. Too many critiques of current conditions call for grand political or public action and demonstrations with ends that are almost hopeless to realize or wildly impractical and even violently disruptive. My account of meaningful work however establishes a way forward that can find partial realization in little unseen ways—in the quotidian aspects of life with face-to-face interactions in praising others for their work and in expressions of gratitude to those who worked before us.
Lovely Country 