C-SPAM Post-Work/Anti-Work Thread: The Revolution Will Be Unattended

The Something Awful Forums > Discussion > C-SPAM > C-SPAM Post-Work/Anti-Work Thread: The Revolution Will Be Unattended

Lib and let die: Aug 26, 2004

WELCOME TO THE SLACC ZONE

Welcome readers, to the C-SPAM Post-Work/Anti-Work thread! Beyond serving as a "work sucks, eh?" thread, I'm hoping this thread can also provide a means to educate on the anti-work movement as a whole, and provide resources on how you can "live anti-work" in your own professional capacities.

What is anti-work?

The core of the anti-work belief is that we work too much and that a productive, healthy society and economy can be maintained with considerably less - or even no, in some of the most ideal predictions - work being done. Fundamentally, this would be powered by a shift away from a growth economy and into a model of a planned economy where rather than prioritizing year-over-year gains, widespread availability of material needs is prioritized. A planned economy strives to make sure that the same basic resources available to a suburbanite family in New England are available to a metropolitan family in Philly and available to a family in [insert rural South Carolina backwoods town here] - clean food and water, shelter, hygienic supplies, clothing - basic, everyday things that your average nobody needs just to survive.

What is post-work?

Post-work is the belief that if not now, in the not-too-distant future, we can create a society that has moved past work entirely. This idea has grown in popularity lately, due in no small amount to the rise in use of automation, and the notable presidential campaign of one Andrew Yang who often spoke out about the potentially harmful societal impacts of a populace that is not ready to embrace automation. Stances on the feasibility of post-work society vary, my own personal feeling being 'lol if you think a computer can ever successfully maintain itself, just, lol' but I know exactly dip squat about the current capability of AI technology other than that you can swear at an Avaya IVR in a very calm tone and it will bump you to the front of the call queue.

That sounds like a pretty big shift. How can anti-work even...work?

It's a drat big shift, and it's the kind of thing that's gained purchase in what remains of the American left, in response to the early COVID airline layoffs and shutdowns. What is needed is nothing short of a full-scale nationalization of all essential services and strong protections against attempts to privatize them. Less Florida Power & Lighting and Pacific Gas & Electric and more Tennessee Valley Authority. Less Waste Management and more Broward County Waste Removal. No. loving. Landlords. Let me repeat that: No. loving. Landlords. No more Comcast, no more Verizon, no more AT&T, just USNet.

While only the tip of the iceberg of the anti-work movement, this alone is a lofty ideal - with the ease of international business, hardcapping growth could cause a mass exodus of private interests that would, at least in the immediate term, create a logistical nightmare for the movement of these essential goods and services. If the Publix family decides to call it quits and shutter them all up in the face of the radical idea that people should be fed and sheltered humanely and with dignity, or the Waltons, or any number of grocery magnates just shut it down, that's billions of people losing access to their local grocer. Because humans are even more unpredictable than they are greedy, we have no real way of telling how Capital would respond should the idea of a planned economy actually be in a position to threaten it.

Aren't you just lazy?

No! But also, yes maybe. There's an important distinction to be made in that "labor" does not equal "work." For the purposes of this thread, we'll define the terms as such:

Labor is any effort - creative, physical, intellectual, or otherwise that goes into the creation of something. Dinner. A painting. A haircut. A bracelet.

Work is the exchange of effort for wages.

Most everyone has something that they enjoy laboring at - I enjoy the hour at night it takes me to prepare a nice meal for my wife for dinner. The labor itself from the rhythmic chopping, the meditative peeling, and the process of taking disparate parts and turning them into something greater than their sum is its own reward.

Most everyone wishes they didn't have to work as much.

And you know what? There are some of us that are just lazy, and if you're asking the question in good faith, then I'd ask of you in the same faith, why does it matter if society can be sustained without the 40+ hour work week?

Recommended Reading:
Bullshit Jobs: A Theory - David Graeber
On the Phenomenon of Bullshit Jobs - A shorter, more digestable version of the above book. This piece spurred the author to write the full length book.
Antiwork - a Radical Shift in How We View Jobs - Brian Dean

# ? Feb 15, 2021 20:53

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# ? May 9, 2024 13:20

Lib and let die: Aug 26, 2004

reserved for stuff about making your life more anti-work with computer touchering

Reclaiming Your Time:

spacemang_spliff posted:

Boss makes a dollar, I make a dime
That's why I'm shittin' on company time

Whether it's this rhyme, or a belief that one should never do what they're good at for free, pooping in the corporate shitter is a liberation like no other. Not only are you afforded the opportunity to - quite literally - poo poo on your boss's stuff, you're paid for the pleasure of doing so. Look. I know some people get hung up about pooping outside their comfort zone but, you just gotta do it. If you're one of them gun-shy types, prime yourself with an extra cup of coffee or a breakfast burrito with extra hot sauce.

Lib and let die has issued a correction as of 22:23 on Feb 15, 2021

# ? Feb 15, 2021 20:53

Homeless Friend: Jul 16, 2007

always felt this isn't viable when one considers everybody on earth w/o being a huge POS op

# ? Feb 15, 2021 20:55

blatman: May 10, 2009; 14 inc dont mez

is this also going to be a UBI thread? that seems like it could be an important stepping stone to a world where people aren't coerced by threat of starvation and homelessness into doing undercompensated work

# ? Feb 15, 2021 20:59

Good soup!: Nov 2, 2010

work sucks

# ? Feb 15, 2021 21:07

Nitevision: Oct 5, 2004; Your Friendly FYAD Helper
Ask Me For FYAD Help
Another Reason To Talk To Me Is To Hangout

Homeless Friend posted:

always felt this isn't viable when one considers everybody on earth w/o being a huge POS op

Old people won't be a problem. We're just gonna kill em

# ? Feb 15, 2021 21:09

spacemang_spliff: Nov 29, 2014; wide pickle

Good soup! posted:

work sucks

# ? Feb 15, 2021 21:11

spacemang_spliff: Nov 29, 2014; wide pickle

Boss makes a dollar, I make a dime
That's why I'm shittin' on company time

# ? Feb 15, 2021 21:11

Lib and let die: Aug 26, 2004

blatman posted:

is this also going to be a UBI thread? that seems like it could be an important stepping stone to a world where people aren't coerced by threat of starvation and homelessness into doing undercompensated work

Yes! UBI is a huge part of any transition away from a needs-based economy. I actually haven't delved much into things like UBI or government-provided housing actually works at a practical level, so if you've got the drive I'd add anything you'd like to contribute on UBI to the OP!

# ? Feb 15, 2021 21:12

Zamujasa: Oct 27, 2010; Bread Liar

The fact that automation is seen not as a way to free the worker, but as a way to penalize and threaten them, is one of the largest wins capitalism has ever had.

# ? Feb 15, 2021 21:44

Lib and let die: Aug 26, 2004

spacemang_spliff posted:

Boss makes a dollar, I make a dime
That's why I'm shittin' on company time

thank you comrade for your contribution, I have filed this under 'Reclaiming Your Time'

# ? Feb 15, 2021 22:24

Stinky Wizzleteats: Nov 26, 2015

if we can liberate the worker from labor itself while also still having videogames thats close enough to utopia for me

# ? Feb 15, 2021 22:29

Butterflysmasher: Aug 7, 2005

im sure i will be swiping the above sentiments as i attempt to bring such good ideas straight to the people during my current mayoral run; thanks much.

(said campaigning is 'worthless' as i am running with 'not raising funds' as a 'selling-point'; all labour no work)

# ? Feb 15, 2021 22:30

Buck Turgidson: Feb 6, 2011; 𓀬𓀠𓀟𓀡𓀢𓀣𓀤𓀥𓀞𓀬

there's not a day that goes by where I don't think about this. my job is absolute make-work, requiring many hours of research, writing, meetings and so on, resulting in little or no discernible impact on anything whatsoever. what little benefits do result tend to be rolled back in about a year. Id call it Sisyphean but for the fact I sit on my arse all day (sitsyphean). the work keeps coming, so I keep doing it, but i could do nothing and the overall benefit to society would absolutely be greater (although i have stepped up union organising, which actually does make a difference). ideally my job simply would not exist

# ? Feb 15, 2021 22:31

human garbage bag: Jan 8, 2020; by Fluffdaddy

What if I want to work?

# ? Feb 15, 2021 22:34

fabergay egg: Mar 1, 2012; it's not a rhetorical question, for politely saying 'you are an idiot, you don't know what you are talking about'

i follow the �post-work� philosophy to a T: i post, at work

# ? Feb 15, 2021 22:35

Lib and let die: Aug 26, 2004

human garbage bag posted:

What if I want to work?

There's nothing stopping you from opening up your own artisan donut shop! You don't have to quit your job and risk starvation if you fail, you just close up shop and go on feeding and clothing yourself with your UBI money!

# ? Feb 15, 2021 22:36