“I do not dream of labour”

There has been a new trend on YouTube recently (and yes, I clearly spend too much time on YouTube). More and more YouTubers are posting videos titled along the lines of “I do not dream of labour” or “I do not have a dream job”, and it has certainly piqued my interest. I took a peek at a couple, and most seem to have a similar narrative. As a very very generalised summary, here’s how the videos usually go:

These YouTubers, mostly women, have taken a rather “traditional” path in their lives. They’ve done well in school, made it to a university, did well in university, and got a good job at a reputable firm. To many, it would seem like they have made it, they got a great start to their adult life and are living the dream. But after hustling at their 9-5 job for a while, they realised this dream life was not what they had thought it would be. To put it bluntly, they didn’t get much joy or meaning out of the work that they were doing, and they started to question the concept of labour. Why do we have to work? Do we live to work or work to live? Who is our work really benefitting?

Questions like these led them to one answer: Capitalism. The notion of a dream job or dream career, where one is encouraged to get a good job and then hustle and climb the ranks, is not one that has the individual’s interests at heart. Instead, it can be seen as one that is really good at producing hardworking and productive workers, and ultimately benefiting the company.

At this point, they start painting capitalism out to be the enemy, pointing out its flaws and explaining how it’s an oppressive or exploitative system. Some offer tips on how to, in a sense, resist capitalism. Others try to offer solutions, very Tim Ferriss-esque solutions, like starting an online business or be your own boss, which I personally don’t think is relevant to most.

I completely understand their sentiments on capitalism and they’re not wrong about its flaws. Believe me, I wrote a 3000-word essay last semester on reification in modern capitalist societies, covering topics like the commodification and reification of labour. So yes, I know that capitalism has its flaws and that labour under a capitalistic system can alienate one from their work.

But I guess this is where our views diverge because I’m kinda on the fence about capitalism. I think it’s undeniable that modern capitalism has brought about significant progress in fields of science, technology and healthcare, just to name a few. A lot of the privileges that we have today, were made possible by capitalism. Furthermore, as someone who puts their money in the stock market, an instrument of the capitalist system, I find it kinda ironic, and slightly hypocritical if I were to denounce capitalism.

Nevertheless, I find it fascinating that more and more people are growing dissatisfied with the system and are starting to see the cracks. I think these videos are great as they get people to think critically and question the system and the norms we’ve been raised to accept. While we may not have a better system in mind, as always, questioning is the first step in the right direction.

On Interracial Marriage

I chanced upon this video by Alice Cappelle earlier today on the politics of interracial relationships in Pocahontas, which was an excellent well-researched video as her videos usually are. Her video really got me thinking a little more on the topic, especially with the recent racist incident involving an interracial couple in Singapore, which I’m sure most of us are aware of by now.

Perhaps for many of us, what we know about Pocahontas mainly comes from the 1995 Disney animated movie. Well, at least that was the case for me. Little did I know that the movie was based on a true story about the life of a Native American woman, Pocahontas. In the movie, Pocahontas married John Smith, and in reality, Pocahontas married John Rolfe. While their names are different, both Johns were white colonisers. So their marriage might just be America’s very first interracial marriage between a Native American and a white American.

In her video, Alice explained that there were probably more factors apart from just love, which led to their marriage. One of these factors was diplomacy. Pocahontas was aware of the growing tensions between both parties and she understood that this marriage could be a means to ease tensions and create a space for more communication and compromise between both parties. Other than that, of course, she was also initially kidnapped by the colonisers, so Stockholm syndrome possibly? Well, if you ask me, I’d like to believe it was true love.

Pocahontas aside, Alice also mentioned that in the 19th century, while Thomas Jefferson was president, one of the strategies he envisioned to deal with the “Indian Problem” was forced assimilation through marriage. So, interracial marriages back then probably wasn’t too motivated by love either.

Circling back to interracial marriage in the modern-day, I think we’ve come a long way. I think we’re fortunate enough to live in a society where interracial marriages are not driven by external factors such as diplomacy or forced assimilation. And in most societies, it’s almost not taboo anymore. Which is great! I think it’s a big deal that interracial marriages today can be, first and foremost, based on love.