Production

Production is creating an object or service with one's own mind and ability; it is one of the most enjoyable and virtuous actions one can commit. That is, of course, only if one produces properly. Producing properly involves all the elements of man's nature: individuality, reason, and independence.

Production involves individuality because one should be producing for one's own benefit. He should be creating because it makes him happy. Essentially, production is selfish. However, there are plenty of people who loathe their jobs. Some people accept work they loathe because they assume it is virtuous, and is thus willing to sacrifice his happiness in order to continue the work. Obviously, it is not virtuous if one is miserable because happiness is the realization of one's values; happiness is acting virtuously. There could be a variety of reasons why one is miserable while pursuing what one perceives to be virtue. One answer could be that the virtues are actually vices. Another could be that some element about the work, unrelated to the morality, such as an annoying coworker, causes one to be miserable. In any event, the misery should not be dismissed outright as a mistake. One should not force himself to be happy. Emotions are not worthless; they are important indicators. However, they must be explored. This is all for another more in depth post. Another reason someone would continue work they hate is because they see no escape. This is a host of other problems. Obviously, there is always some way to improve one's situation one must only take action. Of course, there are all sorts of extenuating circumstances. For example, one may despise his entry level job, but accepts it because he desires the managerial position. Therefore, there is no escape from the entry level job until promotion. Of course, in this situation there is an exchange. One is willing to accept something miserable for an improvement in the near future; thus, there is an escape. Once again the situation must be analyzed, and the person must be willing to act. The person must not be self-loathing, assume they are worthless, and voluntarily choose stagnation. They fact that one chooses stagnation indicates that one is not worthless, for one can choose progress.

Production also involves reason because it involves the application of one's knowledge. Obviously, entry level positions require less reason than higher levels; however, entry level positions are only temporary, and they prepare one for the high levels demanding more reason. Of course, some people like to remain in mindless jobs. There may be the few who enjoy excelling in these positions; trying to create an environment and produce work that is efficient. However, this itself demands reason. The problem is with people who are completing the bare minimum. These individuals are in fact not producing. They are just going through the motions. They have degraded themselves to a cog in a machine. However, in order to reach this level the individual must already assume that he is nothing but an expendable machine part. Once again he has chosen to be inactive out of self-loathing, indicating with some self appreciation he can choose to be active.

The final element that makes production virtuous is independence. When one produces something he is using his own mind and abilities to create. Production is not a collective effort. Obviously, every creation requires several individuals; however, this does not make it collective. Every individual involves in the job is assigned a specific task. The perfect example is the construction of a building. There is the architect, or several architects, and builders. The architect is responsible for designing the building. He must create a vision of the building and produce a design for it's construction. The builders are not extensively involved in this part. The builders; however, are responsible for erecting the building. Furthermore, each builder has specific tasks. Therefore, all the individuals involved in producing a building are completing unique tasks utilizing their own abilities and their own minds. Additionally, each individual is acting, or should be acting, to achieve one's own happiness; each individual is producing to be happy. There is no collective element. The individuals are not producing so all the workers will be satisfied. That is an personal pursuit and each individual should not be acting with the concern of making another individual happy. Also, the workers are not providing their input on every task. The welder welds and the crane operators are not involved in the welding and the welder is not involved in the crane operations. The architect designs the building and the plumber does not concern himself with designing the building and the architect does not concern himself with plumbing. Clearly, each must act with the other's work in mind, or else the building would not be operational. However, the architect is not laying pipes, and the plumber is drawing his vision of the building.

I believe the most important aspect of production is the individualistic aspect. Individuals must enjoy their own work. The must not voluntarily choose imprisonment to the tasks, they must not miserably pursue a false virtue, and most importantly they must not produce to impress others, or for the sake of doing better than others. Personally, I was trapped in such thinking throughout much of my pre-college academic career. I was only concerned with producing in order to do better than others. Therefore, I was relying on others. I was depending on others' failure in order to be happy.

I was never good at sports. I also was not interested in sports. The same goes for socializing. However, throughout my academic career students seemed to identify success as excelling in those areas. Therefore, according to them, I was a failure. Early on I really did not care about this; however, by fifth grade when my self-loathing started to develop, provoked by the insults from those exceeding in sports and socializing, I was obsessed with being as smart as possible so I could be better than them. Obviously, those insulting me were self-loathing. They were not satisfied with their own achievements; thus, they needed to make others miserable, make others hate themselves in order to be happy. However, my actions were exactly the same. I was not satisfied with who I was. I thought that I was a failure according to standards I was not interested in. Therefore, I desired others to hate themselves more, hate themselves in the field I claimed, so I could be happy, to convince my self that I was valuable. Of course, I really just had to enjoy the work I was doing, which really did not start until my first semester of college when I began to correct my thoughts. However, even now, when I find myself thinking about someone in the past I dislike, my next thought is of me being successful and smiling in their faces while they are frowning below me. Immediately, I try to correct myself. I remind myself that I must enjoy my work as it is, and if I do not enjoy my work, I must find new work, work that I like. However, I do need to explore this more. Understand why even today I picture those who angered me, and picture my success as retribution. More importantly, I need to understand why I am even thinking about these people if I dislike them. The people I envision are people I do not even communicate with. All the people I envision I have not seen in about a year. I do not plan on resuming association with them in the future. Therefore, they are not part of my life, I should not be thinking about them. However, I must understand why I am. Once I understand it, I will probably be able to direct myself to being happier.