I agree with you here on the defeatism of this kind of post. It is almost like asking people to compartmentalize their trauma. That is, don't expect to change y

I agree with you here on the defeatism of this kind of post. It is almost like asking people to compartmentalize their trauma. That is, don't expect to change your work environment - simply bear through it and eke out a modicum of real meaning in the hours outside of your 8 hours of servitude. I'm always cynical about the New Yorker and other mags like it. You have to consider the audience. Is the person reading this article more likely to be the child worker or the over-bearing home owner? Consider not just the authors perspective but also the perspective of the upper-middle class recipient of 8 hours of compartmentalized labor. Would you rather someone who fights for their rights, or someone who bears with it so they can go home to their family feeling some satisfaction at doing your laundry and scrubbing your floors. Perhaps it even helps alleviate some guilt such a person might feel: their servants "purpose" may be to scrub their floors, but at least those poor souls can find some meaning in their limited family time. Kierkegaard talks about the Knight of infinite resignation [1] and I think it is relevant here. When one is feeling despair or anxiety (as clearly described by the author) one strategy to alleviate it is to simply accept your dire circumstance. This resignation provides a temporary relief from that anxiety. To be sure, it is a major improvement over allowing oneself to continuously suffer. But the next stage is to truly believe that you can have the same kind of satisfaction in your labor pursuits as you have in your home life. It is to believe that you can manage to erase the distinction between working and living. He argues this kind of belief, especially when there is significant evidence that it is impossible, requires a religious mindset since it is based on faith and not reason. 1. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Knight_of_faith https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Knight_of_faith