There's really a lot  of things to ponder when reading Big Think. This particular piece about the costs of productivity really got to me.

What Melville says to us, reminds us of, is that our systems produce persons so damaged that although we may put them out of our minds, evict them from our offices, they are still there.  And in some way we are accountable to them.  And the sign that Melville has no terrific solution is that he ends the story, “Ah, Bartleby; ah, humanity.”  Right? 

He directs our attention to a kind of cruelty that is the human condition.  I’m looking for some cheer to offer in that story.  I think what Melville does though, is he takes us further and further into the dark heart of modernity, where a growing complexity of the world produces more and more dysfunction and victimization.

We study and train to get expertise in the field that we wish to create a career in, but once that expertise has been attained what we're truly trading in is time - that is, our time. The time we have left on this earth is contracted out for money at a rate determined by a host of factors. The more important others consider our time is, the higher the pay. But it's an illusion, isn't it? Because when you give up your time, there's no guarantee you'll have enough left to spend what you're given in return.

There's something arbitrary about this system. It subtly makes us think that one person's life is less than that of another, because a chunk of their life is deemed as not valuable enough to be paid as much for.

I get only one life as myself. My life is priceless to me. Life is cruel, and one must fight because no one else values me as much as I do. I perform my work, but I will not let it define me.

Please, don't be a victim either. It's just a ride.