Last week I enjoyed a fantastic house dinner, made with locally grown  ingredients, and then attended the Becker/Rose cafe series, where I learned about the people who produce that very food! I had the opportunity to hear Mary Jo Dudley, who has worked to improve the lives of migrant farm workers and their families, speak about their situation.

At first I was surprised when Mary Jo shared that 95% of farmworkers in New York state were from ethnic minorities, most of which who are undocumented. Many of them are migrants as well, who travel in great droves across the US looking for seasonal farm work. The pay is poor,  as are the conditions. Also, children of this social strata struggle to get out of it, as they are constantly uprooted from school, so end up with low quality education. Why is it that farmwork is relegated to people whose illegal residency keeps them from doing anything else?

Clearly, there is a cultural stigma against farm work, which Mary Jo helped us explore. People don’t like the work because it is dirty, dangerous, low paying, hard physically, and lacking in advancement opportunities. And as it is mostly under the table, wages are typically well below the state minimum. Also, it seems to me that our society has engendered in us the idea that manual work is fundamentally “below” intellectual work. Through grade school and college I get the message that the “successful” tier of society has to go to do well in school, go to college (and preferably grad, med, or law school), and get stable, high paying, intellectually or socially-focused jobs.

My question is: why do we define success this way, so based on financial gain and security? I understand that people need a certain level of income to live comfortably and have adequate access to education, healthcare, and other necessities, but beyond that: is more cash always better? To me, success is rooted in something deeper than monetary gain or the physical comforts of luxury. Personally, i have found that success is rooted in relationships. Primarily, my relationship with God, which flows into my relationship with others, and fills them with love and sincerity. I wouldn’t trade all the riches in the world for the joy of being loved by God and sharing His love with others. No matter how I’m feeling on any given day, no matter my current circumstances, it satisfies. I think everyone would do well to really examine what they consider success to be, and why. Don’t just believe what society has drilled into you, find out for yourself.