Sidney Maldonado

Composition and Rhetoric

QUITTING THE R\INT FACTORY

In Quitting the paint factory (2004) Mark Slouka states that all human beings are
meant to work, but spending too much time on it not only may become monotone but
also can cause addiction. The actual system has people thinking that making money is
crucial, so they leave behind their real goals and deprive themselves from doing what
they really want. This devotion to work can be considered a religion and enslavement
provoked by the current system that leads from the childhood to a future of forced labor.

The routine of workers is systematic, they tend to get up early and get ready to go to
work, which does not let them appreciate external details. They are focused on activities
relative to work and what they have pending for that day, turning them into non-
expressive human beings without freedom of thought, uncritical and unwilling to
express their true feelings. The bureaucracy of the labor system causes workers to be
unable to comment or contribute ideas about a correct political system, and
consequently makes them slaves of a lie to which they have to adapt.

Additionally, the ideal embraced by all the system is making money; which means
that people need to work even harder every day, setting aside leisure activities because
they represent losses of money. Hobbies are seen as ridicules and are not approved, this
is the reason why people forget the benefits of sleeping the right amount of time,
expressing their thoughts and feelings freely.

The dreamy generations of the future workers seem that they are increasingly
accepting this system as a future not distant for them; however, trim those who are
against and try to make changes once they enter this system are gradually adapt and
mold to the requirements of working.

On the another hand, the dedication to work is like a devotion, which day to day
causes more people to only pursue a dream and is to work every day more and only for
an ideal money, dedicating their lives to accumulate money; however, the price of the
more money its a life dedicated to work. To better understand this idea it is possible to
compare with the fascist or patriotic ideas that covered the American people in past
years, where thousands of cares lost their lives and shed blood for pursuing an ideal
victory; nevertheless, today the purpose is called work.

In conclusion, nowadays the working world makes people become slaves of their
daily tasks, creating programmed human beings, who follow processes and not their
impulses. Creating a cult and faithful adoration of work, making the lives of workers
routine and away from experiences of their lives, pursuing a single purpose called
money.