Coming from Serbia -- a country of six million in Eastern Europe that once belonged to a larger, war-torn entity called socialist Yugoslavia -- I wasn't fully aware of the notion of "career anxiety" when I came to Washington D.C. for my MA degree. Until one evening, that is, at the very onset of the school year. A colleague of mine who was just turning 27 raised his glass and voiced his fear: "Twenty-seven: no serious job and no stable career track."
I was 23 at the time and could not comprehend why anyone would be obliged to have a "career track," let alone a stable one, especially at (what I saw as) the tender age of 27. In fact, I had never entertained the concept the way my American friends were referring to it.
While many Americans move out of their homes when they're 19 to hit college, the East- European model is quite different. Countries are smaller, and if there's any migration it is directed typically towards the capital, so young people continue to live with their families through college. Because of high unemployment rates and poor standard of living, they aren't expected to become financially independent, and many depend on their parents well into their late twenties or even early thirties -- without a sense of shame that such state of affairs entails in the US. These factors reduce the relevance of what Americans often describe as "the treadmill feel" -- an almost compulsive desire for continuous promotions, financial gains, followed by a rise in social status, and an increasing social anxiety.
In societies that are similar to mine, the American model is looked down upon as "harsh capitalistic," "individualistic" and above all "alienated," as American parents are not perceived to provide enough financial and emotional support for their children. In fact my family and friends had observed that I shouldn't have chosen America, since I would probably feel better in Western Europe -- where life is not as fast paced as in the US and capitalism still has a "human face."
For example, Americans still work nine full weeks (350 hours) longer than West Europeans do and paid vacation days across Western Europe are well above the US threshold. The French still have the 35 hour working week, while the hourly productivity is one of the highest in the world. On the other hand, in the US an increasing popularity of employment therapy suggests that a high-paying job still comes first, as job issues "have a huge mental health component," and therapists emphasize the importance of "toxic co-workers and the ramifications of massive layoffs."
Numerous writers have outlined the dangers of isolation and careerism in the American society. In her famous work "Eichmann in Jerusalem," Hannah Arendt equates careerism with a lack of thinking that led to Holocaust: "what for Eichmann was a job, with its daily routine, its ups and downs, was for the Jews quite literally the end of the world. Genocide [...] is work. If it is to be done, people must be hired and paid; if it is to be done well, they must be supervised and promoted."
In Serbia even young and busy corporate-minded career professionals do not have to mark their calendars to meet with close friends. One can always find the time for a spontaneous chat over coffee. Still, this laid back culture is now beginning to change with an increasing development of free market capitalism. I still remember how strange it felt when I first came to DC and had to schedule coffees and lunches with people weeks or even months in advance. I found it odd that people rarely picked up the cell phone (which, granted, could be merely my personal experience, although many Americans confirmed it!) and would often leave the time and date of the call in their voicemails, which implied the other person might not get back to them in a while. I also came to discover that what Americans often referred to as "friends," people from my region would prefer to call "acquaintances." The term "friend" cannot be reserved for someone you meet once in a couple of months and do not know well enough to open up to.
Those experiences bring to mind a memorable line from from "Eat, Pray, Love," a biographical story recently turned into a Hollywood blockbuster starring Julia Roberts: "You Americans know entertainment but you do not know how to enjoy yourselves." Roberts plays a successful thirty-something American who decides to embark on a soul-searching trip to Italy, India and Bali after realizing her job, husband and newly bought house are not what she really wanted from life. Perhaps that's a superficial take on what many would describe as an equally superficial Californian trend to "do something spiritual," but the above quote shows there's something to the American career frenzy that remains unique to the United States. The opportunity cost for "dolce far niente" or "the joy of doing nothing," runs high.
Reflecting on this, I ran into an interesting take on "Eat Pray Love" by a 23-year old blogger: "We are not sympathetic to spiritual personal crises anymore. If you want to have an emotional breakdown about something, you better have a logical, elaborate and secular reason; otherwise you will be dismissed as whiny, annoying and laughable." I wonder if her comment has to do with the lack of experience or the possibility that the generation entering the work force will not have an adequate justification for its desire to escape the treadmill feel -- amidst all the superficial takes on this complex topic.
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My 27 year old boss begrudges me having to work from home part time (though I could live anywhere in the world, theoretically, and still do my particular job).
If I had the money I would certainly move to Europe.
thanks so much for the article! It's very well-written and it touches the most important aspects of the modern American life. I wish I could explain it to at least a few people I work with...
Sometimes I feel like screaming - having no choice but to work full-time, 2.5-hour commute, seeing the kids 2 hours a day (the most), no time for friends or family, weekends busy with home chores. Is this life? Is this what I was looking for when I moved to the States 11 years ago?
When I say I have 2 weeks of vacation a year, my friends from back home reply: "Oh, man! This is rough! How do you LIVE?"
I eventually lost sight of who I was and that led to a spiral of isolation and depression until I couldn't take it anymore and just snapped. I had a breakdown and quit my high paying job in the middle of a horrible economy with unemployment on the rise. My parents are still disappointed in me and treat me like a failure, but I am genuinely happy now. Centering your mind on money is a neverending struggle. Finding what makes you happy and learning to enjoy the small, precious things that life has to offer is truly the way to live.
I can't live like this and I can't believe so many people do. They think it's okay, they think it's something that can't be questioned or changed. I hope more of my generation catch on to the lie.
Now, I still work hard, but I'm prioritizing my days differently. I take my daughter to school in the morning, go for a power walk or short run, then start my day. I make sure to take the time for at least a few phone calls to friends every day.
We American's love to compare how many hours we work and have workaholic contest amongst ourselves. I'm trying to get a better sense of balance.
Thanks for the wake up call.
But, does put a crimp in time for after hour activities, and don't get to spend time with friends so often...
And, do know plenty of folks who are much more slaves to their jobs than I, and who are so, due to compulsion, avarice, fear, or weird self esteem issues, rather than any great love of what they're doing. Does seem sad...
Do not have a lot of contact with the guys I used to run with. But I am successful at work
www.QuintessentialYouDesign.com
You can easily work part time.
I've been around long enough to have just over a month of vacation time a year. Using it is another story. My department won't hire or train someone who can cover me so they freak out when I want to go on vacation.
So I am an unwilling workaholic. Working full time for reasons outside my control and have dozens of hours of vacation time banked, but not because I don't want to use them.
By no means lazy, I just want to have more life in my life.
Just an additional note: it's interesting how the majority of comments revolve around systemic issues (government, regulation or society), while my fascination resides on the level of primary personal psychology (as influenced by trends in society). And so all those who related the mindset that I discuss here to China, Japan or other places- I think that's a great point too.
The issue I discuss is in my opinion (as I also hint in the article) not intrinsic to the US- on the contrary.