Regaining Farm-Family Values in a High-Tech World After Leaving the "Distinctive" Lifestyle
It's not uncommon for us to ask what "values" drive us to live the way we do in a world with longer commutes, longer workweeks, and gridlocked suburban sprawl (and how to get back on the right track).
In the midst of our constant enviousness of others' "distinctive" lifestyles, we may benefit from taking a step back and asking ourselves whether we're willing to make the sacrifices in family happiness, joy, and contentment that the "distinctive" lifestyle requires.
You may well conclude, after weighing all the costs and benefits - including pollution and rampant consumerism - that the "distinctive suburban way of life" that everyone is chasing is actually what we have come to call the "distinctive suburban way of life": a dual-income household attempting to impress neighbors and coworkers while being tormented by increasing vexeness and a sense of emptiness in their lives.
With this in mind, maybe our goal should be to abandon the particular way of life rather than strive to live it.
The Values of Farm-Family Telework
In order to live in huge suburbs near technology-enabled employment, we leave our little towns and farms, but now technology allows us to return and rediscover the pleasure and strength of family and community relationships. It's one of the great ironies of the high-tech age.
I don't understand how this is occurring. Working from a remote location is becoming more common. It's becoming easier to work from home and make a reasonable livelihood performing legitimate and fascinating work thanks to the widespread use of the Internet and broadband communications. In many families, one or the other parent no longer has to make the lengthy trip to work. As an example, imagine that work is no longer a "location" but rather an activity. Although it may seem absurd, it is now feasible for both parents to leave the "gerbil wheel" of suburban life and work from wherever they desire, even if it is far from the ideal.
Virtual Assistants, Virtual Professionals, and Jetblue Airways
It has been about 20 years since the Virtual Assistant business was born, and it has gone a long way since. The phrase "Virtual Assistant" refers to independent contractors that offer business support services by email, phone, fax, and courier to other small companies and freelancers. A person who worked solely from home and relied only on email and other technological tools to manage business from distant customers was very rare in those days. It was also uncommon to come across someone working on anything other than purely administrative tasks.
There are now more than 80 different specialties offered by virtual workers, including everything from bookkeeping to high-end corporate consulting to psychotherapy to surgical assistance. These virtual workers go by many different names, including virtual assistants, virtual professionals, virtual service providers, and virtual freelancers. Companies such as JetBlue, AIG, and Travelers now insist that many of their employees (mainly "call center" people) work from home almost all the time, despite the fact that most of these individuals are self-employed.
Why Do People Rely on "Virtual Help"?
Virtual assistants tend to work with small businesses and solo professionals, such as Realtors, small law firms, import-export firms, and professional speakers, because smaller businesses are more willing to innovate and embrace change than their larger, Fortune 500 brethren (whose processes and outlook become rigid through custom and age). In bigger organizations, VAs may also give one-on-one assistance to top management (i.e., as a virtual "executive administrative assistant" to a Vice President).
Many advanced degree holders (aka "Virtual Professionals") offer consulting services to smaller companies and soloists (think of a marketing consultant, for example). Virtual workers in professional niches like medicine (e.g., an RN or MD) may also consult with insurance firms, malpractice law firms, and hospitals (e.g., a marketing consultant).
An Increase in This Tendence
During our ninth year of study, we are particularly excited by the widening of genuine, virtual employment options that correspond with the development of the broadband Internet and the outsourcing phenomenon. As a result, we're seeing more and more "virtual employee" positions (such as full-time, home-based work from a fixed employer), freelancing work (such as proofreading, editing, graphic artwork, and help desk specialists), virtual teaching positions (such as community colleges and distance learning institutions), and individual online tutoring (elementary school and up).
Ebay "mompreneurs," as described in a piece in the June 7, 2004, edition of Business Week, are equally amazing ("The Rise of the Mompreneurs"). According to the Business Week website, the following eye-opening figures are included in the article:
Over 430,000 individuals in the U.S. alone - more than General Electric and Procter & Gamble employ worldwide - make a full or part-time career selling anything from clothes to agricultural equipment on eBay, with the best sellers netting up to $1 million a month. "
What Impact will This Have on the Family?
In addition to homeschooling and other choices, these changes might have considerable implications for families, as you would expect. If one or both parents have "practically marketable" skills, that's a good start.
- That parents may now spend more time with the children at home;
- Because of this, it is possible that the family may relocate to a more kid-friendly area.
- Couples and families will see a considerable reduction in the strain of a two-commuter lifestyle, as well as the associated costs.
- Children will be able to learn from the finest teacher of all—a parent—essential work-related knowledge.
What's in Store for the Future?
These trends, while they cannot predict the future, indicate that the old-style concept of "telecommuting" (an employee working from home a few days per month) is being overtaken by a radically different model: full-time, home-based virtual careers, based on a steadily-growing supply of legitimate virtual-work opportunities. There will soon be high-definition interviews between virtual employees and their hirers (even mobile phones can now send or receive videos), which is expected to further accelerate these developments.
Rural and small-town life might be adversely affected by these changes since virtual employees can be located anywhere. Working parents and their families no longer have to settle for the faceless, temporary "community" of the suburbs, which now house over 80 percent of Americans (and are practically ghost towns by day and hotels at night). Even in little towns in Kansas and Maine and on islands off the coast of Nebraska, virtual workers may do their business from the comfort of their own homes.
In addition to the freedom of movement, the virtual worker also saves money on auto-related expenditures, which is a considerable benefit. The fact that he or she isn't tied to the local economy is maybe the most crucial aspect. Those who work in Manhattan, London, LA, or even Kansas City, where hourly costs for business services are substantially more than they would be in a tiny town in Kansas, might enjoy the benefits of living in a location where three-bedroom houses have dropped to rock-bottom prices due to emigration.
How to Find Out More
To discover more about virtual possibilities, the best place to do so is on the internet. With a few simple Google searches, you'll be on the correct track. Also, the International Virtual Assistants Association, the International Telework Association & Council, and Staffcentrix may assist in filling in the gaps.
Even while it may at first seem to be a "brave new universe," there are already a number of possible friends, supporters, and pioneers who have already established themselves in the virtual world. Even while it comes with certain hazards, you and your family may find that it unlocks the door to a manner of life that you had previously believed was merely a pipe dream. No matter which road you decide to choose, we wish you the best of luck, as well as the success of those who look up to and emulate your every move – your children!
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