WORKERS OF THE WORLD RELAX
May. 1st, 2024 01:31 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
defrogIt’s Labor Day in most of the world. The one that’s actually about workers’ rights, not the one about barbeque.
And you know there’s going to be a playlist for that, right?
Right.
PRODUCTION NOTE: The text in the cover art means “Lying Flat” (a.k.a. “Tang Ping”). It was a big meme in mainland China around 2021 among young graduates who really saw no opportunities and no future in terms of careers in China, and saw no appeal in the rat race they were expected to enter.
“Tang ping”, then, means choosing to "lie down flat and get over the beatings" via a low-desire, more indifferent attitude towards life. It’s said to be somewhat equivalent to the Great Resignation movement in Western culture around the same time.
To be clear, it doesn’t mean being lazy or not wanting to work. It means rejecting societal pressures to overwork and over-achieve in favor of a more practical lifestyle that prioritises simplicity and psychological well-being over economic materialism.
The playlist isn’t really about that specifically, but I did include some songs that explore those themes, and put it in the general context of the challenge of lying flat in an exploitative work culture. I also found it interesting that artists like Neil Innes and The Fugs were singing about the same basic idea decades ago.
Or is that too intellectual?
Anyway, it’s two hours of music for your Labor Day activities. Or whatever you plan to be doing today.
What are we standing for,
This is dF
And you know there’s going to be a playlist for that, right?
Right.
PRODUCTION NOTE: The text in the cover art means “Lying Flat” (a.k.a. “Tang Ping”). It was a big meme in mainland China around 2021 among young graduates who really saw no opportunities and no future in terms of careers in China, and saw no appeal in the rat race they were expected to enter.
“Tang ping”, then, means choosing to "lie down flat and get over the beatings" via a low-desire, more indifferent attitude towards life. It’s said to be somewhat equivalent to the Great Resignation movement in Western culture around the same time.
To be clear, it doesn’t mean being lazy or not wanting to work. It means rejecting societal pressures to overwork and over-achieve in favor of a more practical lifestyle that prioritises simplicity and psychological well-being over economic materialism.
The playlist isn’t really about that specifically, but I did include some songs that explore those themes, and put it in the general context of the challenge of lying flat in an exploitative work culture. I also found it interesting that artists like Neil Innes and The Fugs were singing about the same basic idea decades ago.
Or is that too intellectual?
Anyway, it’s two hours of music for your Labor Day activities. Or whatever you plan to be doing today.
What are we standing for,
This is dF
