Slacker...

 

This is one of the better paragraphs of the Slacker@Work manifesto.

We slackers represent the bright side of overachievers. Slackers are as smart, educated, talented and driven as any standard-issue overachiever you'll find. The core difference is that slackers have the gift of satisficing: we can stop at "good enough" and go home unburdened by what was left undone. Though slackers will satisfice, it would be a mistake to assume that slackers never exceed expectations. Quite the contrary.

Because slackers are at their best when focused upon problems and issues that are important to them, slacker work product is among the finest in the world. Therein lies the key to understanding the slacker ethic: slackers are best at doing what is important to them. This knowledge is important not only to those who work with slackers, but also to slackers themselves (Slacker, know thyself!). When slackers understand why they aren't like the other kids in the office, they can begin to employ lifehacks that afford many favorable benefits. Foremost among these benefits is the ability to pursue ones own interests while simultaneously being seen as a superstar at work.

 

This is from Fight Club, which was a novel before it was a movie

I see [...] the strongest and smartest men who've ever lived. I see all this potential, and I see squandering. God damn it, an entire generation pumping gas, waiting tables; slaves with white collars. Advertising has us chasing cars and clothes, working jobs we hate so we can buy shit we don't need. We're the middle children of history, man. No purpose or place. We have no Great War. No Great Depression. Our Great War's a spiritual war... our Great Depression is our lives. We've all been raised on television to believe that one day we'd all be millionaires, and movie gods, and rock stars. But we won't. And we're slowly learning that fact. And we're very, very pissed off.

 

This is from Slacker's Guild.

For years, we have put up with the name calling. For too long, we have sat, idle, while others have placed the blame upon us. No longer. It's time we sent a message back to those who would give us the title "slackers"...

The real irony is that those who oppose us the most are of the same kiln as those who created us. Your inane work ethic and constant striving to perform the most menial of tasks at peak efficiency has only bred contempt, and the smart ones said "fuck this, I'll do just enough to get by, then go have a beer." We learned that there is a limit, and pushed that limit to avoid being your bitch. You created us.

You shot down our ideas. You ignored us. You didn't understand us, so you said we "weren't living up to our potential". You forced us to listen to what you thought we should be doing. We took matters into our own hands and decided to live our lives by our rules. You created us.

For every misunderstood slacker, there is a seemingly endless line of people who told us we weren't good enough. We weren't smart enough. We didn't fit in. Who's doing all the work? Not us. With your backhanded approach to teaching and sharing, you created us.

We are the smart ones. We are the thinkers, the artists, the dreamers. We would rather live our lives in our heads than face the reality you shaped for us. You set the stage for apathy. You created us.

You call us unmotivated. You want to punish us for being lazy. The truth is, we just don't give a shit about what you want. We only put up with your shit because we'd rather put the energy into things that matter. We put our hearts and souls into the things we care about. We break our backs for the projects we believe in. You want work? Give us something worth our time. By crucifying us for knowing how to relax and enjoy life, you created us.

You live by the numbers, and you will die by the numbers. You chastise us for tardiness, never realizing that we just don't want to spend any more time than necessary at whatever failed experiment in intraoffice sociopolitical head games you've set up for us. With your corporate pseudo-hierarchy and bullshit red tape, you created us.

This is not the path of least resistance you seem to think it is. Ours is a world more complicated than you could know. We have to deal with a world full of people just waiting to sell us short. People who take great pride in telling us we're wrong. People who get off on pointing out the shortcomings of others. The people who created us.

We've taken the label you have given us, and we wear it with pride. You sought to correct us, but by grouping us together, you brought us together. We are not the minority any more. You have bonded us and made us stronger. You created us.

We won't all make it. Some of us will live out our lives in our parents' basements. But some of us will rise up and do more than you ever dared to dream. Either way, it's our choice. We did what you could never do: we made the choice to be ourselves, society be damned. You created us. We are slackers.