It is said that "all labor is honorable." And if there's proof of this adage it's in this staff-written article for the OC Weekly in honor of Labor Day. "OC" stands for Orange County, the sprawling expanse of suburbia located south of Los Angeles. It's a region best known for its surfing, the Magic Kingdom, and Knott's Berry Farm, but it clearly isn't Disneyland for everyone.

The article describes in detail the duties involved in the artificial insemination of dogs, cleaning sewers, cremating bodies, and phone sex, among others. But what's most interesting is the fact that many of these workers actually like their jobs.

You wouldn't expect a guy who cleans sewers by hand to like his job but he does, and even finds a literal silver lining in his disgusting task - finding a lot of jewelry. Or take the crematory manager who describes his first day on the job as "killer" and enjoys the smell of burning bodies. And the operating room tech who has the job of disposing of warm body fat after liposuction but enjoys helping people look better and feel better about themselves.

Clearly, many of the interviewed workers seem to have become acclimated to their "different" tasks. How else would a butcher be able to cope with slaughtering animals or the operating room tech deal with stuffing an amputated leg into a bag.

But, some of the workers seem to have grown to despise their jobs. Take the stripper who describes her job as "very emotionally and physically draining." She got into the profession as a means of survival and sees no glamour in it whatsoever.

All in all, this piece provides some insight into the variety of obscure tasks required to keep a society running and, at the very least, makes you appreciate your own job more.
--Al Paulson
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The Cosatu Strike, By Mark Gevisser, The Nation
It seems very apropos that Durban, South Africa was chosen to host the recent United Nations World Conference Against Racism. What with South Africa only recently out of the hands of one of history's most racist political and social systems, it's fitting that it host a conference dedicated to abolishing the scourge of racism itself. But on the eve of what should be a symbolic triumph, the country has become embroiled in bitter infighting over some of the very issues the conference is supposed to address. The dispute is between the ruling African National Congress (ANC) on one side, and the Congress of South African Trade Unions (Cosatu) and the South African Communist Party (SACP) on the other. The dispute is over whether an underdeveloped country like South Africa should adopt the globalization policies that typically favor the developed world.
--Al Paulson
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The Yes Men, Web site review by Mariam Pourshoushtari, www.theyesmen.org
Maybe they agree with the suits too readily, but that is just how the Yes Men are able to sneak in and uncover the real behind-the-scenes of the world of business. This genderless network of impostors from Finland pose as 'team players,' though they are actually playing for the opposing team. Recently, one of their representatives, 'Hank Hardy Unruh,' lectured in Tampere before 150 people. Claiming to be a representative of the WTO, he argued that the U.S. Civil War was a waste, "because slavery . . . would have eventually been replaced by the much cheaper system of remote labor-like we have in sweatshops today." He ended his speech with ripping off his suit to reveal a gold leotard with a three-foot phallus. The purpose of the 'Management Leisure Suit' was to control remote work forces by enabling the wearer to see the workers by the video interface at the end of the phallus and to shock their workers if they are not working hard enough. Not one of the 150 people, many holding Ph.Ds, questioned Hank. The Yes Men had intercepted Professor Nousiainen's request to the WTO for a speaker and filled in their own representative. When 'Hank Harry Unruh' was contacted by the press, he explained, "The way we look at it, this is not pranksterism, and nor is it performance art. We rather see it in the light of a stylish demonstration. And the way we are able to do it proves that the decision-makers really have rather lost the ball."
--Mariam Pourshoushtari
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