"Severance" Workplace Dystopias
Plus massive stock drops for Tesla, Target, and more
“Capitalism cannot be your highest order of operations”.
This is something I recently saw posted by entrepreneur & internet personality Blakely Thornton and felt seen. As we navigate these crazy time in the U.S., economic uncertainty, and shifting world relations, solely focusing on selling products and business seems crazy. And I’m not alone. I have seen several people on Linkedin lamenting over our current reality (and frankly the often dystopian posts of that platform given the moment), and outdated corporate functions, that have left us feeling more uncertain about our collective direction. People are being laid off left and right, the job market is impossible, healthcare is failing us, food and housing is expensive, there are few social safety nets for Americans in any capacity, yet here we are being ruled by a select few berating everyone for not working harder, for less. What? No wonder consumers are pushing back, being strategic with their spending, and calling out the out-of-touch excess of influencers. In this vain, the brilliant show “Severance”, which is wrapping it’s second season, it incredibly timely.
Some reads:
Like all great dystopian art, Severance isn't just entertainment; it's a mirror, reflecting uncomfortable truths about our own workplaces, or perhaps the larger scope of hyper-capitalism in the United States that have brought us to a head. What are we even working on, and to what end? As a curious and creative minded-person working frequently in the corporate world, this is something I (and many others) have asked themselves a lot. Americans in particular thrive on opportunities, innovation, risk, financial independence, optimism, and entrepreneurial spirit. We are hard wired this way, and our multitude of side hustles prove it. When I worked in the UK, I was so surprised by the lack of it…but then again, they did have far more life stability (this would likely be disputed by some of my friends there, but by comparison, it is).
Now about our current situation, and the oligarch parade attempting to control our livelihoods. Much like the show, we are mere hamsters in a wheel to too many people and we are at a tipping point of massive change. While covid certainly accelerated how and where we worked, many corporations have reversed policies on time in the office (with little to no data showing it is better), while simultaneously cutting pay, teams, and telling workers to be better in many public, insulting blunders. It is little wonder that midlife professionals reach a make or break point, often switching careers or going back to school in record numbers. I have seen some people stick it out and ascend the ladder, but many more change their lives for sanity and all-around health.
The show portrays a dystopian workplace where employees undergo a procedure to sever their work and personal lives, suggesting that modern workplaces can be dehumanizing and that employees are often treated as mere cogs in a machine, while suggesting that our culture is stuck in a cycle of both fetishizing and decrying work, with the show seemingly rejecting the notion that work is a vehicle for self-fulfillment.
With an administration trying to push us backwards, I think we are nearing a breaking point in both work and culture, that needs a full evolution and revolution.
Listen to Kara Swishers pod interview with creator/director Ben Stiller about the show