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The life 
& times 
of
Warren Swil
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

V 1

 

by Warren Swil

Glendale News-Press September 2, 1996

Today is Labor Day, but we recommend it's an opportune time to treat yourself to some good rest and your favorite recreation. 

Historians tell us the first celebration of what has evolved into Labor Day was held by the Knights of Labor in New York City in 1882. Conditions of life and labor were so different 114 years ago that indeed we can understand why work would be a cause for celebration.
In late 20th century America though, life and work are radically different for those who toil to survive. 

Economic change has accelerated to lightning speed, allowing only the fittest (the most flexible, most educated and most motivated among us) to keep up with it.

Consider just the past 20 years - a fraction of a second in terms of the entire human history. In a dictionary published in 1976 you will not find the term “personal computer;” even a 1994 dictionary will not list “Internet” or “Information superhighway.”

The first PC, the Altair, built in 1975 was nothing more than a primitive box containing two bytes of information: the operator first had to set eight switches to their specified “on” or “off” positions, then flip a ninth switch to activate them all and record one byte.  The same procedure on a second set of switches gave you the second byte. Can you calculate how many switches you'd have to set and re-set just to add two plus two?

Fast forward to the present. Personal computers are ubiquitous in the workplace. Most workers today have more computing power on their desks than existed on the entire planet 30 years ago. The digital revolution has radically changed the nature of work for millions of people, and we're only beginning to see the ramifications of this spread into other areas of human endeavor.

The most recent -- and potentially most revolutionary – digital development has been the advent and explosive e growth of the Internet and World Wide Web. It's a phenomenon even the finest minds can barely grasp, yet we all seem willing to blindly rush forward into cyberspace without knowing our destination or what we'll encounter along the way.

Labor Day gives us a brief chance to pause and reassess the conditions of our own lives. Are we satisfied with our work? After all, we spend more than a third of our lives doing it, so if it provides no reward above the income necessary to survive, we are actually very poor no matter how big our paycheck.

Those happy with their work should be grateful; a huge majority of workers is alienated automatons, punching a time clock so they can pay the rent, and remaining oblivious to any larger purpose of their work (quite possibly there isn't one).

So today, take a trip to your favorite recreation spot: the beach, a peak in the Verdugo Mountains, Brand Park. Spend a while reflecting on your life's labor, appreciate what you have, resolve to improve it, and empathize with those less fortunate. That's the best way to truly mark this day we call Labor Day.