this post was submitted on 30 Oct 2023
623 points (95.9% liked)
Antiwork
8254 readers
4 users here now
-
We're trying to reduce the numbers of hours a person has to work.
-
We talk about the end of paid work being mandatory for survival.
Partnerships:
- Matrix/Element chatroom
- Discord (channel: #antiwork)
- IRC: #antiwork on IRCNow.org (i.e., connect to ircs://irc.ircnow.org and
/join #antiwork
) - Your facebook group link here
- Your x link here
- lemmy.ca/c/antiwork
founded 3 years ago
MODERATORS
you are viewing a single comment's thread
view the rest of the comments
view the rest of the comments
This will blow some people's minds on here: some people actually derive pleasure from work. I actually like working. I like researching, building and producing stuff. I would rather work than spend my time doing some stupid hobby. My only requirement is that I need to believe in what I am doing. I won't work just for money or out of necessity and I won't work just to make some rich asshole, richer. I also won't work out of some competitive drive like some people do. I don't even work for myself. I don't care about material riches. I only work so that I can later marvel at my creations. But, I still like working.
People like work. We hate jobs.
I used to love my job. I ran movie theaters. Not only was I good at it, I felt a great deal of personal satisfaction. I had fun going in to work. Then I got something I love more: a wife and kids. Movie theaters didn't pay the bills, and it required too many nights, weekends and holidays. If I wanted to make more money and spend more time with my family, I needed to find a respectable 9-5. It took me another 5 years of bouncing around jobs to find one that, while I don't love it it's not a job that makes me want to drive off a cliff.
My kids are getting old enough that, if theaters started offering respectable living wages for adults with families, I'd go back to the industry in a heartbeat.
You're absolutely entitled to enjoy work, particularly when it has outcomes that you value. That strikes me more as human nature than anything capitalism-specific, and something that more people should have the freedom to seek.
I work for a university as a software developer. My income is considerably lower than the private sector, but it feels so much better knowing that I am working towards something that betters the world.