"Do you believe work is the fundamental source of dignity?" / A.J. Hendry

"(Do you) believe work is the fundamental source of people's dignity..."

"I do believe that work is the source of dignity..."

The question above was asked by National Party Leader Christopher Luxon to our Prime Minister, Jacinda Ardern.

The response is as alarming as it is telling.

"Do you believe work is the fundamental source of peoples dignity...?"

It's a question which sits deep within our culture and society. What value do we have if we do not work? What value do we have if we do not contribute to the economy?

The question, and the answer, is one seeped in Neoliberal ideology. It brings with it the assumption that as human beings our value and our dignity is tied to what we can contribute, to what we can produce, to the manner in which we feed and strengthen the capitalist economy.

It raises questions of what it means for us to be human. Is it true that our value is tied to our productivity?

Think about this for a moment. What does it say about the value of children? Do they not have dignity, or is their value only seen within the potential return an investment in them will bring the economy in the future?

And what of our disabled whānau? Do they not have dignity? Are they less because they do not stimulate as much economic value as the worker working a 40 hour week?

And what of our whānau who are without work? Who for whatever reason are unable to work full time or at all? Are they worth less simply due to their lack of employment? Are their lives less dignified simply because they do not produce "economic value"?

I believe that many of us would whole heartedly and emphatically assert that is not case. Our value arises out of our humanity. Each and every one of us matters. Not because of what we produce, not because of what we do, but because of who we are. Human beings. Divine image bearers.

When you look at the conditions that many of our whānau are living in, the lack of resources, the second rate, damp, cold, and unsuitable housing, the lack of access to appropriate food and medical care, the suffering that poverty causes in our nation, and than raise your eyes to the mountain of wealth held by the few, and the unwillingness of the majority to share our resources in order to ensure equitable distribution, it becomes very clear where the lack of dignity, the lack of humanity, lies.

For if there is any lack of dignity, it is found in those who have the power to end poverty and yet do not. Those who make the decision to delay Justice, while children suffer, and whānau are crushed under the weight of the capitalist machine. Those who say, wait, come back tomorrow. Those who deny the crisis of poverty and inequality, instead preferring to obscure the suffering of our people with narratives of "Personal Responsibility" and the gem "equality of oppurtunity".

Our value is not tied to our work.

Our dignity is not hinged on what we contribute to the capitalist economy.

It is grounded in our humanity.

Located in the very reality of our existence.

#LoveIsTheWay

A.J. Hendry is a Laidlaw College graduate, and now a Youth Development Worker and housing advocate, working in the Youth Housing and Homelessness space. He leads a service supporting rangatahi experiencing homelessness and is also an advocate working collectively to end youth homelessness in Aotearoa. He is also the curator and creator of When Lambs Are Silent.

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