Cohousing-L Mailing List: Re: hiring labor

[Sharon Villines (sharon]

On 25/10/2002 11:03 PM, "Casey Morrigan" <cjmorr [at] pacbell.net> wrote:

> Well, that is a great question that I don't know the whole answer to.  Here
> is a partial answer.  He does not like to pay others to do work because it
> reinforces classism and an unequal relationship between the wage payer and
> the wage earner.  And that we should as a community be willing to get our
> hands dirty and do the manual labor required to make the place run.  There
> is more to it but that is my summary.  Uncomfortable was my euphemism, not
> his.

There is a wonderful book on money called Seven Stages of Money Maturity:
Understanding the Spirit and Value of Money in Your Life by George Kinder.
The "Seven" comes from Buddhism and relates to the stage of enlightenment -
- a framework that is strained at points but the ideas are wonderfully
illuminating. 

As long as you are valuing the work people do for you, and you pay them a
fair wage -- one you are comfortable paying -- hiring someone to do work
that needs doing is what specialization is all about. And specialization is
necessary if we want to live in a complex society. Otherwise we would all be
hunters and gatherers.

A more meaningful question for me is what work builds community and provides
satisfaction for members and what is a burden that fractures the community
by creating an uneven workload? Or causes too much stress because it never
quite gets done?

How much time do people have and what work do they enjoy? One person's
drudgery is another's satisfaction. All work has value. Recognizing that
value fairly and respectfully creates equal relationships, not unequal
relationships. When people pay me for my services, I do not feel unequal,
certainly not subordinate. Why should I feel superior if I pay others for
their services?

Sharon
-- 
Sharon Villines
Takoma Village Cohousing, Washington DC
http://www.takomavillage.org

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