The Abolition of Work

[BrandonE]

I had the pleasure this past weekend of visiting Cherokee, NC and visiting the Ocunaluftee Indian Village. I'd been there before when I was a child, but it really struck me this time how beautiful the Cherokee culture seemed to be. There seemed to be a seamlessness to it that we just don't seem to have in today's work oriented society. There was less of a division between "work" and "play" than we have today. The days passed doing useful things with the help of friends and family, rather than the common experience that many of us have of working in order to "make a living". It reminded me of an essay that I'd read some time ago: The Abolition of Work

No one should ever work. Work is the source of nearly all the misery in the world. Almost all the evil you'd care to name comes from working or from living in a world designed for work. In order to stop suffering, we have to stop working.

It's a long essay, and kind of sludgy reading in places, but worth the effort. The crux of the essay is the above thesis, but the supporting evidence and method are laid out in the rest of the essay.



As beautiful a dream as the essay may present, I can't help but think that it is almost wholly utopian. Achieving what the author presents as the ideal would require the surrender of many of the technological advances that we "enjoy" today as well as the near-total destruction of modern society.

Is this utopian dream a desirable state? Why or why not?

Is this an achievable dream? If so, how?

If this society presented is ever to be achieved, it would be implemented either incrementally, one individual at a time, or apocalytically after some serious societal disruption. In the incremental implementaion, wouldn't the "early adopters" be living off the backs of the remaining status-quo until such time as the status-quo finally collapsed under the weight? Is this an ethical way to proceed?

 

[BrandonE]

Anyone else share the hope of this beautiful dream but fail to see it as realizable?

 

[BrandonE]

Well, Brandon, since you asked, I think that the hope for a work-free utopia of integrated lives is nothing more than a pipe dream. This is of course the reason that no one else has responded to this ridiculous topic for "debate". I'm sorry I have to break it to you like this. Sure, it makes for a great ideal, but we live in a world of technology, and nothing short of apocalypse will separate us from that technology.

Technology, being heavily dependent on integrated circuit technology, simply cannot be produced in a society like that which the article outlines. Similarly for most of the modern conveniences to which we are accustomed. As you are a chemical engineer, I would expect you to know that such common products as, say... gasoline... cannot be produced in an economical fashion by any model other than the current 24 hour online operation. This operation, no matter how advanced, will always require at least some level of around-the-clock human supervision, and this task must necessarily be performed by a person experienced in the industry. The people saddled with this task would not be able to participate in the outlined society, and thus would not be willing to sacrifice their own happiness for the mental well-being of others. Unless, of course, you know any Morlocks.

This cornerstones of modern society will make it all but impossible for the utopian society hoped for in the article to ever be achieved. An apocalyptic event that returns humanity by force to simpler times would be the only way to ever achieve this type of society.

Sorry to let you down.




I feel strangely like angellous_evangellous... perhaps I should request to have this moved to one-on-one debates...

Anyone?

 

[Sunstone]

I'm uncertain how the word "work" is being used in the OP. Could you elaborate on what is and what isn't work? That is, what makes an activity "work"?

 

[sparc872]

Haha...I haven't read the link yet but I figured I'd reply before you go and invent a third person.

It would be awesome if we didn't have to work, or if we all did what we love to do. I think it is amazing how happy people who live in tribes seperated from the western world really are.

While I don't think we will ever get to the point you described, I think we can work to establish something closer to it than what we have now. Americans work more hours than the citizens of pretty much every other developed nation. We have the highest consumer debt and some of the smallest savings accounts. Our problem lies with the system in which we live, our country aims to produce money not happiness. I think we are seeing the beginnings of a major shift from consumerism to a lifestyle of simplification. People are beginning to realize that the stuff of happiness isn't the stuff we are shown on television commercials. Family, relaxationg, persuing things we truly enjoy, nature; these things are the stuff of happiness.

We need to get back to community living. We need to get rid of our vehicles and opt for walking or biking, maybe public transportation. We need to grow our own food and get rid of the idea that bigger houses make us feel better. There are plenty of examples to follow, we just need to look for them. I think some of us underestimate our own power to change. Issues like global warming and environmental destruction are going to spark a shift towards less consumption and ultimately, less work. People will begin to live closer together and to their work.

Man oh man, I feel like that is one big incoherent lump of text. Anyone have any tips on how I can clear out the fog in my head?

 

[BrandonE]

I'm uncertain how the word "work" is being used in the OP. Could you elaborate on what is and what isn't work? That is, what makes an activity "work"?

Work as in the OP and the cited article is a daily occupation that, while it may generate income, has little else to do with your day to day life.

In relation to the visit to the Cherokee village that prompted me to think about this again: They had to work to make canoes, hunting equipment, clothes, gather food, build shelter, etc. However, this is not the kind of work I meant. This work is seamlessly integrated into the lives of those pursuing it. They did not spend 8 hours a day slaving over tasks that had little impact on the rest of their lives. They were able to spend MORE time with their families than we are currently able to, despite all of our "time-saving" appliances because the work they did was with their families, and was integrated into family and village life.

Some in modern society get to live in a way that closely resembles the lives of more native people. They are generally either independently wealthy or "slackers" that live on the fringes of society and don't hold down a steady "job". They support themselves, but do not do so at the expense of large portions of their time.

Does that clear things up any? If not, I'd point you to the article, which is unfortunately long, but quite interesting.

 

[BrandonE]

I think we are seeing the beginnings of a major shift from consumerism to a lifestyle of simplification. People are beginning to realize that the stuff of happiness isn't the stuff we are shown on television commercials. Family, relaxationg, persuing things we truly enjoy, nature; these things are the stuff of happiness.

We need to get back to community living. We need to get rid of our vehicles and opt for walking or biking, maybe public transportation. We need to grow our own food and get rid of the idea that bigger houses make us feel better. There are plenty of examples to follow, we just need to look for them. I think some of us underestimate our own power to change. Issues like global warming and environmental destruction are going to spark a shift towards less consumption and ultimately, less work. People will begin to live closer together and to their work.

I agree with all of your sentiments, but I am afraid that I don't see any of the signs of change that you appear to.

I have long wished for a job I can walk to, but the city where I live and the occupation that I have are decidedly unfriendly to such an arrangement. I could move and/or change jobs. However, my extended family all lives here, so I am loathe to move to another city where this might be possible and I can't convince them all to move with me. Additionally, I have chosen a line of work that no-one wants to live near, including me (I'm a chemical engineer).

I have the hope, but not the solution.

 

[sparc872]

Well Brandon, I think it is high time you join up with the Open Source City Project then It's in my signature.