Rat Race
Encyclopedia
A rat race is a term used for an endless, self-defeating or pointless pursuit. It conjures up the image of the futile efforts of a lab rat trying to escape while running around a maze or in a wheel. In an analogy
to the modern city
, many rats in a single maze expend a lot of effort running around, but ultimately achieve nothing (meaningful
) either collectively or individually.
The rat race is a term often used to describe work
, particularly excessive work; in general terms, if one works too much, one is in the rat race. This terminology contains implications that many people see work as a seemingly endless pursuit with little reward or purpose. Not all workers feel like that. For example, self-employment contributes to an increase in job satisfaction and the self-employed may experience less job related mental strain.
The rat race also refers to the fierce competition involved in maintaining or improving one's position in the workplace or on the social ladder. This term presumably alludes to the rat's desperate struggle for survival. [Colloquial; first half of 1900s]
Urban planners often use the term 'rat racing' to describe behaviour by motorists who choose to travel to the most direct route by using secondary roads not intended for through traffic
.
The increased image of work as a "rat race" in modern times has led many to question their own attitudes to work and seek a better alternative; a more harmonious Work-life balance
. Many believe that long work hours, unpaid overtime
, stressful jobs
, time spent commuting
, less time for family life and/or friends life, has led to a generally unhappier workforce
/population
unable to enjoy the benefits of increased economic prosperity and a higher standard of living
.
Escaping the rat race can have a number of different meanings:
Analogy
Analogy is a cognitive process of transferring information or meaning from a particular subject to another particular subject , and a linguistic expression corresponding to such a process...
to the modern city
Global city
A global city is a city that is deemed to be an important node in the global economic system...
, many rats in a single maze expend a lot of effort running around, but ultimately achieve nothing (meaningful
Meaning of life
The meaning of life constitutes a philosophical question concerning the purpose and significance of life or existence in general. This concept can be expressed through a variety of related questions, such as "Why are we here?", "What is life all about?", and "What is the meaning of it all?" It has...
) either collectively or individually.
The rat race is a term often used to describe work
Career
Career is defined by the Oxford English Dictionary as a person's "course or progress through life ". It is usually considered to pertain to remunerative work ....
, particularly excessive work; in general terms, if one works too much, one is in the rat race. This terminology contains implications that many people see work as a seemingly endless pursuit with little reward or purpose. Not all workers feel like that. For example, self-employment contributes to an increase in job satisfaction and the self-employed may experience less job related mental strain.
The rat race also refers to the fierce competition involved in maintaining or improving one's position in the workplace or on the social ladder. This term presumably alludes to the rat's desperate struggle for survival. [Colloquial; first half of 1900s]
Urban planners often use the term 'rat racing' to describe behaviour by motorists who choose to travel to the most direct route by using secondary roads not intended for through traffic
Traffic
Traffic on roads may consist of pedestrians, ridden or herded animals, vehicles, streetcars and other conveyances, either singly or together, while using the public way for purposes of travel...
.
The increased image of work as a "rat race" in modern times has led many to question their own attitudes to work and seek a better alternative; a more harmonious Work-life balance
Work-life balance
Work–life balance is a broad concept including proper prioritizing between "work" on the one hand and "life" on the other. Related, though broader, terms include "lifestyle balance" and "life balance".-History:The work-leisure dichotomy was invented in the mid 1800s...
. Many believe that long work hours, unpaid overtime
Overtime
Overtime is the amount of time someone works beyond normal working hours. Normal hours may be determined in several ways:*by custom ,*by practices of a given trade or profession,*by legislation,...
, stressful jobs
Stress (medicine)
Stress is a term in psychology and biology, borrowed from physics and engineering and first used in the biological context in the 1930s, which has in more recent decades become commonly used in popular parlance...
, time spent commuting
Commuting
Commuting is regular travel between one's place of residence and place of work or full time study. It sometimes refers to any regular or often repeated traveling between locations when not work related.- History :...
, less time for family life and/or friends life, has led to a generally unhappier workforce
Workforce
The workforce is the labour pool in employment. It is generally used to describe those working for a single company or industry, but can also apply to a geographic region like a city, country, state, etc. The term generally excludes the employers or management, and implies those involved in...
/population
Population
A population is all the organisms that both belong to the same group or species and live in the same geographical area. The area that is used to define a sexual population is such that inter-breeding is possible between any pair within the area and more probable than cross-breeding with individuals...
unable to enjoy the benefits of increased economic prosperity and a higher standard of living
Standard of living
Standard of living is generally measured by standards such as real income per person and poverty rate. Other measures such as access and quality of health care, income growth inequality and educational standards are also used. Examples are access to certain goods , or measures of health such as...
.
Escaping the rat race can have a number of different meanings:
- A description of the movement, of either the Home or Work Location, of previously City Dwellers or Workers to more ruralRuralRural areas or the country or countryside are areas that are not urbanized, though when large areas are described, country towns and smaller cities will be included. They have a low population density, and typically much of the land is devoted to agriculture...
locations - RetirementRetirementRetirement is the point where a person stops employment completely. A person may also semi-retire by reducing work hours.Many people choose to retire when they are eligible for private or public pension benefits, although some are forced to retire when physical conditions don't allow the person to...
in general or no longer needing / having to work. - Moving from a high pressure job to a less intense role either at a different company or within the same company at an alternative location or department.
- Changing to a different job that does not involve working 9 to 6 and a long commute.
- Working from home.
- Becoming financially independentFinancial independenceFinancial independence is a term generally used to describe the state of having sufficient personal wealth to live indefinitely without having to work actively for basic necessities . In the case of many individuals whose financial circumstances fit this description, their assets generate income...
from an employer. - Entering professions such as teaching/motivational speaking
Quotes
- The trouble with the rat race is that even if you win, you're still a rat. — commonly attributed to Lily TomlinLily TomlinMary Jean "Lily" Tomlin is an American actress, comedienne, writer, and producer. Tomlin has been a major force in American comedy since the late 1960's when she began a career as a stand up comedian and became a featured performer on television's Laugh-in...
in People magazine (26 Dec 1977)http://questler.com/explore/quest/view/1066, but according to The Yale Book of Quotations (Shapiro & Epstein, p. 767), Rosalie Maggio in The New Beacon Book of Quotations by Women states that William Sloane CoffinWilliam Sloane CoffinWilliam Sloane Coffin, Jr. was an American liberal Christian clergyman and long-time peace activist. He was ordained in the Presbyterian church and later received ministerial standing in the United Church of Christ....
said "Even if you win the rat race, you're still a rat" as chaplain of Williams College or Yale University in the 1950s or 1960s. http://books.google.com/books?id=w5-GR-qtgXsC&pg=PA767&lpg=PA767&dq=%22The+trouble+with+the+rat+race+is+that+even+if+you+win,+you're+still+a+rat.%22&source=bl&ots=1XNNaRtm7O&sig=kN9-P_R_KUrU2MXDap3ky0EF37Q&hl=en&ei=2oehSZSOHeCbtwfF4cWTDQ&sa=X&oi=book_result&resnum=6&ct=result
- "That is real freedom. That is being educated, and understanding how to think. The alternative is unconsciousness, the default setting, the rat race, the constant gnawing sense of having had, and lost, some infinite thing." David Foster WallaceDavid Foster WallaceDavid Foster Wallace was an American author of novels, essays, and short stories, and a professor at Pomona College in Claremont, California...
in his Commencement Address at Kenyon College. Gambier, Ohio. May 21, 2005.
- "A rat race is for rats. We are not rats. We are human beings. Reject the insidious pressures of society that would blunt your critical faculties to all the happenings around you that would caution silence in the face of injustices lest you jeopardize your changes of promotions and self advancement. This is how it starts and before you know where you are you are a fully-paid up member of the rat pack. The price is too high. It entails a loss of your dignity and human spirit." Jimmy ReidJimmy ReidJames "Jimmy" Reid was a Scottish trade union activist, orator, politician, and journalist born in Govan, Glasgow. His role as spokesman and one of the leaders in the Upper Clyde Shipbuilders Work-in between June 1971 and October 1972 attracted international recognition...
, Glasgow University rectoral address, 1972.
Further reading
- Leaving the Mother Ship by Randall M. Craig (Knowledge to Action Press, ISBN 0-9735404-0-0, 2004).