Philosophy of Refusal In Odell And Frayne Works.
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Philosophy of Refusal In Odell And Frayne Works.
Introduction
Working contributes to one’s happiness and builds confidence and self-esteem, mainly because of the financial reward that one gets. This is the belief that most of the people in the societies have. However, this may not be the case for some individuals. In Frayne’s book refusal to work, he states, “I quite like being unemployed. Financially it’s scary, but I’m doing stuff that I like every day. If the money weren’t a worry, and also the impending doom of getting made to get a job, I would just really love it.” (Frayne, 2015). This text shows that not everyone prefers working on getting the benefits that the community relates to working but value activities that they lack more than being involved in acts that provide finance, and they don’t like it.
In another text by Odell in the article’ Anatomy of Refusal’, it states, “Appearing as if you’re doing nothing is seen as a threat to the general working order of the company, creating a sense of the unknown.” (Odell, 2019). Odell’s text shows that while working, its almost impossible to stay idle as the act risks the firm financially. Therefore, from the two versions, it is evident that working is based on individual and corporate interests as other people work to be economically stable while benefitting a company and forego their interests. On the other hand, some feel they are better not working but happy with doing stuff they like. Both Odell and Frayne’s works can be integrated to determine the benefits of work and develop strategies in workplaces to ensure both individual and corporate interests are achieved.
Frayne’s Reasons for refusal to work
According to Frayne’s work, the text is derived from a character who received questions on why they are not working, and society feels pity for him. This idea is shown through the statement, “oh it’s terrible what you’re going through.” (Frayne, 2015). Unemployment is considered a terrible thing since it shows that the person is not financially supported; therefore, it lacks respect from people. However, the character’s perspective is different. According to the text, the character likes being unemployed because it allows him to perform activities that they want. Frayne’s view shows that people’s refusal to work is based on having a priority on their interests hence prefer engaging in stuff that they like. In another context, this means that employment is generally related to performing responsibilities that people do not like consequently are forced to engage in them. It makes one prefer to remain unemployed but engage in acts that they love.
On the other hand, Odell’s text is based on a person who is employed. However, as the character gazes, or stares into space, a lot of questions are directed to her wishing to know what she is doing. The notion of inactivity is a new concept for employed persons; hence are concerned with the character’s actions. The idea of inactivity in Odell’s work is considered a threat to the company, which creates a sense of the unknown. Here the ‘unknown’ factor is the economic effect that the company might have when employees fail to work as expected. Odell concludes the paragraph by stating that “The potential of nothing is everything.” (Odell, 2019). The statement shows that an effect on a single factor in an organization affects the entire organization. Therefore, if one person fails to perform their responsibility, the company is affected as a whole.
Similarities and Differences between Odell and Frayne.
Similarities. Odell and Frayne both address the issue of refusal of work. In Frayne’s point of view, the character refuses to work because he values activities he loves, more than working for financial benefits. On the other hand, Odell addresses the perception of employed individuals when they seem not to be working. Therefore, both contribute knowledge to the understanding of employment and benefits for working to individuals and corporates.
Differences. Frayne’s statement is based on the individual perspective of working, while Odell’s text is based on the corporate view. The statement from Frayne considers a personal reason for failing to work, and this is because of wanting to indulge in activities that they love. On the other hand, Odell addressed a person who is already employed but has to work to benefit the company. If they fail to work, then the company is at risk of the unknown. Also, Frayne shows that people have the right to make their choices concerning working, while in Odell’s work, the responsibilities are defined by the employer, and when they are not working, they have to be liable to the risks that occur.
Personalization of Concept
Having employment or working to get financial benefits from jobs is an essential action among people within a community. People study to get employed and be able to be paid for the services they provide. However, there are those people who are talented with activities that they wish to indulge in all their lives. After finishing studies, it is usually people’s dreams to find a job that pays well for them to live a happy life. However, this was different for a friend as al she wanted was to play musical instruments. Having influential parents, she got a lot of job offers, but she was not interested in any of them. Her reason for that was there is no freedom in being employed, and she will not be able to continue with what she loves most. Therefore, her interest was in playing music, and that is what she continued doing irrespective of not getting any financial benefits from it.
This concept relates to both Odell and Frayne’s texts. Frayne addressed the refusal of work due to individual interests in activities they love. From experience, music was of interest than being employed in an organization. Also, using Odell’s theory of employment dictates what you have to do, and this is the same perspective she had of job. However, it is possible to consolidate both ideas to improve the perspectives of people working in organizations and be able to perform activities they like as well as contribute to the company’s objectives. Corporations and individuals can benefit from the ideas of the authors through assigning responsibilities that relate to an individual’s talents and hobbies.
Integration of Odell and Frayne’s ideas
From the first Frayne text, appearing to work is a contribution to the company and individuals seeming to work, have a better experience in the workplace. In another text from Frayne’s work, it states, “Look, I’m not a bum, I’m not a scrounger,’ whereas I shouldn’t have to defend myself or justify what I’m doing. I shouldn’t have to explain it like that, but there is that defensiveness because the culture is so judgmental.” (Frayne, 2015). According to the character, explanations have to be made to people to prevent them from misinterpreting the issue. The author mentions that the culture is so judgmental; hence creating explanations is better than being honest to avoid social judgments.
Also, in Odell’s text, the colleagues at work are all concerned about the character’s behavior of failure to work. They keep asking since, to them, they believe that failing to work is a threat to the company. In another text from the same work, Odell states, “We want to pay you as good wages as the industry can afford. We always have paid top wages—and hope to keep it up. Recovery is not yet here—it is only on the way. You’re hurting, not helping, to bring it back for yourselves, for us, and San Francisco.” (Odell, 2019). From the statement, good wages are earned by the employees. As the employer puts it, it is the employees that could bring recovery to themselves and get good wages by working hard to contribute to the company.
These two perspectives of the authors can be used to enhance activities in an organization to improve the working of individuals. This application is through Frayne’s idea of refusing to work due to the wish to undertake activities that they love. Therefore, cooperation can use this by giving responsibilities that relate to a person’s talents and what they love. For example, an individual with more passion in writing may be given the responsibility to write blogs for a company. Through this process, Odell’s idea of working to benefit the company comes in. When individuals work involves what they love, they will work passionately, consequently contributing to the objectives of a company. It will benefit both an individual and the company.
Conclusion
Frayne and Odell’s ideas contribute to the concepts of working and can be applied by cooperates to improve experiences in a firm. As both authors address refusal to work, Frayne concentrates more on an individual’s benefits while Odell emphasizes on corporate interests. The ideas can be used to enhance corporate experiences by improving working experiences through allowing employees to undertake activities that relate to what they love hence benefiting themselves and also the company.
References
Frayne, D., 2015. The Refusal Of Work: Rethinking Post-Work Theory And Practice.
Odell, J. (2019). How to Do Nothing: Resisting the Attention Economy.
