It’s some sort of perverse arms race built around a shared lie we all pretend we don’t know about.
There’s a lot of that when it comes to work in general. It’s like it’s taboo to point out that the only reason people show up to their jobs is because they get paid for it.
News Flash: nobody has wanted to work ever. They work because the compensation lets them live the lives they want outside of work. If nobody wants to work for you, it’s because you either aren’t willing to compensate them enough to do that, or your job makes them so miserable that it’s not worth it for them to trade away that much happiness for the compensation.
But let’s say you could also make that living wage just by existing. In a world where you wake up each day and a day’s worth of your living wage was automatically deposited into your account whether you worked a job you liked or even if you went out for a walk in the park…would you still choose to work every day?
If by “work”, you mean contributing to the capitalistic growth of The Economy™, then no I wouldn’t want to work.
If by “work” you mean meaningfully contribute to my community and society as a whole, yes I’d still want to work. Not every day, but I was on unemployment benefits for almost a year, and it gets boring after a while not feeling like a useful member of your community.
There’s a lot of that when it comes to work in general. It’s like it’s taboo to point out that the only reason people show up to their jobs is because they get paid for it.
Right?
“Nobody wants to work anymore!”
Like no shit man.
News Flash: nobody has wanted to work ever. They work because the compensation lets them live the lives they want outside of work. If nobody wants to work for you, it’s because you either aren’t willing to compensate them enough to do that, or your job makes them so miserable that it’s not worth it for them to trade away that much happiness for the compensation.
Or both. In lots of cases it’s both.
There are jobs I want to work, they just don’t pay a living wage.
But let’s say you could also make that living wage just by existing. In a world where you wake up each day and a day’s worth of your living wage was automatically deposited into your account whether you worked a job you liked or even if you went out for a walk in the park…would you still choose to work every day?
Define “work”.
If by “work”, you mean contributing to the capitalistic growth of The Economy™, then no I wouldn’t want to work.
If by “work” you mean meaningfully contribute to my community and society as a whole, yes I’d still want to work. Not every day, but I was on unemployment benefits for almost a year, and it gets boring after a while not feeling like a useful member of your community.