Good work

If I were a matriculant or a university student in 2009 I would be looking around for a sustainable career.

Of course the Christian always bears in mind that in the long run nothing in this world is eternal. But in the short run of his or her life the Christian must, like everyone else, look for gainful employment, a job.

My point about the term 'sustainable' is that the current financial crisis poses the very real question: which jobs will survive and which will not? For example would I want to be an investment banker today? Or a a worker in the car industry? You see what I mean? A well-paid job of yesterday can become a debt-trap tomorrow.

All over the world there is a contraction of production and therefore of the job market. Because Americans are cutting down on the consumer goods they used to enjoy but can no longer afford, the Chinese factories that used to turn out those goods are simply shutting their doors and sending the workers home, millions of them.

Writers like Michael Northcott, author of A Moral Climate, would suggest that what is happening at a deeper level is that the great economic fiction of infinitely-sustainable, fossil-fuelled growth is finally being unmasked. Nothing can grow forever, particularly if that which fuels its growth is manifestly limited. Another falsehood which is crashing is the idea that human kind is unique as a species to the point of being able to thrive independently of the natural environment. It can't.

Hence if we are indeed undergoing something more than the usual periodic market readjustment, then the consumer economy will have to be reassessed in favour of something, well, more sustainable. Northcott points to the Amish farmers in the USA as examples of people who have a deeper understanding of the issues here, despite the fact that many consider them to be funny and backward. The Amish make a positive choice to limit their dependence on mechanical power, especially that provided by coal and oil. They opt rather for sustainable energy sources such as the muscle-power of horses, mules and humans. They also choose not to 'need' modern consumer goods and rather value family life, self-reliance, home-made entertainment and the worship of God.

Because of all these choices they are far less vulnerable to the forces of the consumer-driven market than those young investment bankers we saw suddenly losing their jobs in New York, Paris and London. The Amish will not starve, because their farms are among the more productive in the USA. Furthermore, people will always need food, so any business they do, while it may dip, will not collapse completely. This cannot be said of the toy or computer-game manufacturers of China.

A young South African probably would not aspire to live like an Amish, but can certainly ask what career is likely to endure, and a career that lasts is more likely to be better in itself. This is because it's good for people and good for the environment. The starting point for the job-discernment process is therefore to look at perennial human needs - for food, clothing, shelter, physical, mental and spiritual health, education, security.

If one wants a steady, sustainable and good job (in the sense of intrinsically good), these are the areas to be looking in.