Farmers
Teachers
Mothers
Artists
What if these were the most revered, the most respected, visible, and highly compensated jobs and roles in our society?
What/who are those held in high esteem now, as measured by earning potential and media coverage?
Actors
Football players
Corporate CEOs
Politicians
In the interests of being totally transparent, I did not do much* research about the above other than noticing the news feeds and observing what we do for entertainment.
And
I saw a bumper sticker the other day that read: No Farms, No Food.
That got me thinking…uh… “Right! Duh! So, I started envisioning a different set of priorities:
Nourish the body & the land — farmers
Nourish the mind & spirit — teachers & parents
Create & nourish the human — mothers
Create & nourish imagination – artists & makers
Which led me to the list at the top of this essay.
Imagine a small scenario in a society where these roles are predominant and revered.
Imagine, for instance:
A Mother who nurtures and grows citrus trees that repeatedly bear luscious and bountiful fruit and who then teaches her successful methods to her children and any others who are interested to learn. Year after year. Her children thrive and prosper. Her groves are beautiful and bountiful, feeding many bodies – as well as hearts and minds as artists write songs that are sung about her and her fruits. Others create paintings of her orchards. Makers create new devices to more easily pick fruit from the highest branches.
In my fantasy world, this woman is a celebrated heroine.
Further in this world, imagine: No one has heard of football. C, E, and O are just letters in the alphabet. Corporate entities are no longer sustainable and no longer have the same rights as individual humans**. “Small” businesses thrive. Collaboration, cooperation, vision, and individuality conspire together for fruitful outcomes. Compassion, generosity, and personal responsibility are valued. Integrity is valued. Demonstrating good character” is praised behavior. Citizens take turns serving in the government for limited terms, both at the state and federal levels.
And (how about this?) most everyone has fun being the actors, directors, and/or writers in plays or films! It is deemed way more fun and entertaining than merely watching one! Then they go back to teaching or studying to be a better farmer, artist, and/or parents. Imagine.
~ ~ ~
Oh, I know it is a very simplistic fantasy! Let me have it for a few moments.
…and what is yours?
*The research I did reveals that in actuality doctors, specifically anesthesiologists, are the highest-paid occupation in the U.S. But this was calculated using hourly wage-earning. I couldn’t find any data on how much any actor is actually paid by the hour. And it would really take a lot of sting and humor out of my essay if I were to mess it up with an actuarial truth.
** corporate “rights”: Our Supreme Court endorses corporate personhood — holding that business firms have rights to religious freedom under federal law. Not only do corporations have rights, but their rights are also often found stronger than yours.