Nine to five

Goal 8: Decent work and economic growth

The eighth Sustainable Development Goal is outlined as the following: “Promote sustained, inclusive and sustainable economic growth, full and protective employment and decent work for all”. This goal seems to be unique in that the other goals all hold the potential to viably cultivate sustainability, whilst this goal does not. The conception of upward mobility – i.e., the rags to riches fallacy – has fostered an affection among most of the modern world for its capitalist framework, however the reality of this fallacy is that the supposed rise to the top is underpinned by disillusionment: upward mobility is possible, but it is not unlimited as has been advertised to us. The farm animals serve as a reference to the inhumane battery farm systems we employ in modern commercial faming. The portrayal of animals in cramped, uniform pens, with minimal exposure to fresh air or sunlight is eerily reminiscent of a typical office building. Though we can identify the cruelty of the caged and exploitative manner in which we use animals, we do not identify similar patterns within our own lives.