As someone who is going to have to get a job in 2-3 years, I’m dreading the day. Going to the same place 5 days a week coming home with no time and energy left for anything you actually like and doing this for FOURTY years or even more if you were unlucky, sounds HORRIBLE!! How could anyone actually like working?
I can only speak for myself, but I enjoy having a regular supply of interesting problems to solve, and the daily routine keeps me grounded.
This is human nature. The “antiwork” crowd isn’t actually against work, but against the exploitative system of how work is executed under capitalism. We all like solving problems and knowing what tomorrow holds for us. If you woke up tomorrow and had absurd “fuck you” money, you’d retire from your job, but you’d still work on things.
Over the years, I’ve learned the sense of accomplishment and pride that comes from fixing a thing, replacing a broken/old/inferior thing, installing a thing, etc. I was never particularly handy. I don’t much enjoy the process itself, but the visible and quantifiable and tangible product of my labor and time are so much more fulfilling to me than the fraction of a fraction of an impact to a billionaire’s bottom line, given in exchange for being allowed to have shelter and food.
And really, some jobs are fairly enjoyable too. My wife truly enjoys her job most days, and a lot of that enjoyment comes from her job being less serious. She clocks in, performs tasks in a way that meets expectations while joking with co-workers for a few hours, and clocks out. It’s not all soul crushing, but it’s easier to stomach when it’s <30 hours per week.
Eh, a significant portion of the anti work crowd does seem to think communism is when no ditch digging. This is why communism really requires specific material conditions, because as long as tedious, dangerous jobs exist, there will always be degrees of worker alienation, no matter how much effort the state puts into propaganda which attempts to convince them otherwise.
It’s the money, generally. Life is expensive.
Yep.
I want to provide for my wife and kids. Its my purpose and I find it fulfilling.
Important distinction between “working” and “having a job”. You do a job for someone else. You should always be working for yourself. Labor for ones own ends in enjoyable. Labor for someone else is a means to an end. Recognize it is something to balance and balance it the best you can for the life you want to have.
This should be higher up.
I think a lot of younger people today struggle to figure out what is important for them to balance and this creates a problem where they just jump from one short term gain to another until they die and if they recognize this pattern without knowing what’s happening they just feel hopeless and don’t want to change it or themselves and then struggle to be a functioning adult.
Hey look at that it did eventually get higher up haha
He who does not work, neither shall he eat
I don’t want to work in order to survive but I want to be productive and keep my mind and body sharp while also contributing to the community. I like my job and while it seems mundane, it keeps me busy, gives me routine, gives my brain problems to solve, and is sometimes the most socializing I get. I just hate that I have to be afraid to lose my job or end up hungry or homeless because of it.
I just hate that I have to be afraid to lose my job or end up hungry or homeless because of it.
it’s not an accident that you’ve come to see it this way; controlled dissent and manufactured fear are effective ways at keeping a population under control.
That’s why I’m a communist, but most people are afraid of that term. I would settle for really good socialism in my lifetime though.
I hate being stuck as a wage slave creating wealth for the people standing on my shoulders, but I like to work and I like my job, it’s a strange place to exist.
same here; except i’m not a marxist (yet) and i’ve traded in my labor aristocracy slave status for a non-profit driven workplace that comes with union protections.
watching my union get their collective ass handed to them by starbucks; and others; makes it’s clear that union protection doesn’t mean much, but it’s the best i think i can get in this country.
Good workplaces are like the after-school extracurricular classes, you go because you’re interested, it’s fun to problem-solve with people.
I have to be regularly told to go home at the end of the day.
Finally a positive answer! I completely agree, I enjoy working with competent people, solve issues, and improve myself. Extend my knowledge and experience, try out new stuff and help other people get better.
How long have you worked there?
How long have they been in business?
Is the business stable and well-ran? Do you even know?
IDK, I’ve been here a few years, the company has existed for another few.
If it starts getting uncomfy, I’ll start looking for a better one. It worked out so far.
Place and purpose baby! Working for someone/being exploited sucks shit, sure, but doing stuff is awesome. What else are you gonna do?
This, and working with a team, and working towards the public good. Building successful teams, improving processes, implementing efficient and sustainable systems - all good fun to achieve.
That said these take weeks and months to accomplish where I work. I’d love to be a chef where the results of my labour was more … immediate.
There’s so many different jobs and situations out there, not everything is doom and gloom with employment or work. I assume you’re in school, which usually takes up just as much (if not considerably more) of your time commitment.
Yeah. A 40-hour-a-week job is less time than school. After graduating, I suddenly had a shitload more free time and money to go with it.
I like my job, I wouldn’t do it for free, but I like it. I like the money it earns to buy cool shit and support my lifestyle. I’d also be so unhealthy if I didn’t have the routine it gives me.
Most people want to feel productive. Forty hours is too much but almost nobody wants to only sit on the bank that is depressing in the long run.
People don’t want to work. They want to live and pay for shit. Work is the only way for people that weren’t born rich to get money. Well, either that or crimes, but some crimes can be seen as illegal work.
Most people don’t want to feel useless, so if you cut their access to cheap dopamine (phones with internet, social media) they might seek out some work out of boredom.
What really sucks is that society expects us to be “specialists” in one thing for the rest of our lives, as if we are fucking ant drones or gears in a complex machine. It’s great for economists and the rich and awful for our individual wellbeing, though some people do enjoy doing the same thing over and over for very long periods of time.
Well, either that or crimes, but some crimes can be seen as illegal work
Human existence requires work. Someone has to grow the food, someone has to fix the things, someone has to build the structures and plumb them and someone has to help fix us when we get broken. The only way to never work is to freeload off of everyone who is working.
What really sucks is that society expects us to be “specialists” in one thing for the rest of our live
Specialization is literally how humanity shifted from being hunter-gatherers who lived to be about 30-40 before getting mauled by a bear or killed by another tribe or dying of an infection because you slipped on a rock.
In the modern economy specialization doesn’t have to mean doing the same thing every day. Any kind of career where you fix things, you can easily find a job that varies wildly from day to day. A mechanic might be replacing an engine cylinder one day and rebalancing wheels the next and rebuilding the exhaust the next. An IT person can be troubleshooting a software error one day then tweaking network performance the next then imaging laptops the next. A project manager will have different work depending on what phase of the project it’s in, and the type of challenges and work will vary wildly by what kinds of projects they’re managing
The trick is, find something you don’t mind doing and that can turn into finding something you kinda enjoy. As long as you don’t wake up dreading work every day (which if you do it’s probably time to shake things up, both for yourself and for your loved ones!) you can have a pretty decent life
Find something you genuinely enjoy doing.
Also, having moneyz is nice.
The question is, what else would you be doing with your time?
if you do something you enjoy for a living, you will end up hating it. trust me on that one.
Yes! That happened to me!
I might be an outlier, but I enjoy working. I like what I do. I also like having money.
Most days, when I get home, I do whatever housework is needed and still have time to spend with my family, work on home projects, or relax and play a game or whatnot.
Take care of yourself by exercising and eating right, find a job you enjoy, and you won’t be dead tired after work. Granted, there are occasional days when I’m exhausted, but they’re the exception, not the norm.
I’m middle age, and as much as you are not looking forward to working, that’s how I feel about retirement. I don’t know if I will ever retire, not because of money, but because I think I’d get bored.
There is dignity in contributing to society, I do something I’m reasonably good at and therefore enjoy doing, my colleagues are friendly and decent people, it puts a roof over my head, food on the table, and something in the piggy bank for a rainy day.
Its a fuckin nightmare, but gotta eat
