Russel Baker frequently uses the word ‘junk’ in his article, either referring to buildings or the results of work performed at workplaces by ‘market analysts’ or “data processors”. What the author is hinting at is not only the fact that “the machines that make things make them in such a fashion that they will quickly fall apart” (Baker 431), but also that no matter what is it we do, it makes no sense at all, it has no value. It is as useless and as senseless as junk, an absurdity that does not add value to the world.
How do we define if anything makes sense at all? One can say that simple things do make sense, like making a table, and one can measure both the degree of simplicity and sense by presenting an idea or a result of work to a child. In this way, no doubts would be raised about a carpenter making a table or a doctor treating measles. The value of those deeds is obvious to and recognized by even very young children, and this can become a kind of a yardstick. Baker uses the fact that the children “cannot visualize what work is in corporate America” (Baker 431) to reinforce his argument that what their fathers do often makes no sense at all. Clearly, it is very hard to ‘envision’ the work of a broker or a credit consultant, even for adults. The author writes about the child`s lack of enthusiasm in relation to work, so as to emphasize that there is no much to be inspired about. Not because the children are not capable of understating what a loan or a stock exchange is, but because the his father does “something that has to do with making junk” (Baker 433), simply because it`s worth nothing.
Junk is used as a metaphor in this article, that`s why Baker calls even the big twelve-story glass buildings ‘a piece of junk’(Baker 432). The comparison is not literal, of course, since it is by no means easy to discard a twelve-story building, more so the giant business centers that today took on the form of skyscrapers. An investment in construction of a business center with a view of demolishing it after several years is hardly profitable, yet Baker argues that no matter what kind of business will be done within, it would be as meaningless and useless as a piece of junk. A rather pessimistic view, and, of course, not much reason for children to be inspired by their future employment.
Baker`s dissent is illustrative of general transition from manufacturing to service provision. With the departure of the industrial age global economy tends to focus more and more on provision of services and international financial markets, which in turn leads to creation of money ‘out of thin air’. And the present scale of business and trade would, of course, be impossible without modern means of communication – Internet, social media, computer systems etc. Even though Baker gives a particularly sardonic account of ‘papers’ as central objects at workplace around which everything revolves, they are practically eliminated by the today`s digital media.
What has remained, however, is the inability to express in layman`s terms what one`s father, or, paying respects to the empowerment of women, one`s mother does at work, since the numbers of ‘operational managers’, ‘big data analysts’ etc have soared. For Baker, perhaps, the near disappearance of papers and people carrying them up and down the floors (now it is the job for e-mail) would change little: now, just like in the past, people are engaged in activities that are not easy to explain or demonstrate to a child.
In my view, however, despite the technological breakthroughs, in particular in the field of communication, some types of work still remain valuable. For instance, what a doctor does is easy to explain to a child, but at the same time, due to technological progress, doctors are able to save more lives and cure more patients. Moreover, even despite the emergence of much paperwork related to insurance medicine, doctors are actually relieved of their duties to do paperwork partially owing to capabilities of information and communication technologies.
In conclusion, I disagree with Baker`s opinion that any kind of work is related to producing a piece of junk. Even in today`s world where the role of financial markets and trade is as important as ever, there still are professions related to manufacturing or provision of vital services, and that, therefore, do make sense and are a valuable contribution to society.
Works cited
Baker, Russel. “Work in Corporate America.” N.p. 431–433. Print.
