Antiwork

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For the abolition of work. Yes really, abolish work! Not "reform work" but the destruction of work as a separate field of human activity.

To save the world, we're going to have to stop working! — David Graeber

A strange delusion possesses the working classes of the nations where capitalist civilization holds its sway. ...the love of work... Instead of opposing this mental aberration, the priests, the economists, and the moralists have cast a sacred halo over work. — Paul Lafargue

In communist society, where nobody has one exclusive sphere of activity but each can become accomplished in any branch he wishes, society regulates the general production and thus makes it possible for me to do one thing today and another tomorrow, to hunt in the morning, fish in the afternoon, rear cattle in the evening, criticise after dinner, just as I have a mind, without ever becoming hunter, fisherman, herdsman or critic. — Karl Marx

In the glorification of 'work', in the unwearied talk of the 'blessing of work', I see the same covert idea as in the praise of useful impersonal actions: that of fear of everything individual. — Friedrich Nietzsche

If hard work were such a wonderful thing, surely the rich would have kept it all to themselves. — Lane Kirkland

The bottom line is simple: all of us deserve to make the most of our potential as we see fit, to be the masters of our own destinies. Being forced to sell these things away to survive is tragic and humiliating. We don’t have to live like this. ― CrimethInc

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Capitalism Is Driven By Mental Illness (open.substack.com)

submitted 2 weeks ago* (last edited 2 weeks ago) by stabby_cicada to c/antiwork

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I saw a fascinating tweet by BloomTech CEO Austen Allred the other day that stirred up a lot of thoughts here.

“Of the Silicon Valley founders I know who went on some of the psychedelic self-discovery trips, almost 100% quit their jobs as CEO within a year,” Allred said, adding, “Could be random anecdotes, but be careful with that stuff.”

Allred tweeted this in response to writer Ashlee Vance sharing that he’d been told by a venture capitalist, “We’ve lost several really good founders to ayahuasca. They came back and just didn’t care about much anymore.”

There’s some very useful information in those words. They reveal a lot about the insane mess our species finds itself in in today’s world, and provide insight into how we might find our way out.

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[–] SweetCitrusBuzz@beehaw.org 2 points 2 weeks ago (1 children)

Yes, sure, I can see that.

Hmm, I'm not sure how a system founded on those things can accept those things as unwell.

I do agree to some degree, just not sure how to make it be seen by others or by the system itself, it would require destroying it in one way or another and getting these people help which can be difficult to do whilst the system still exists because most of them won't even ever admit it and nor will the system.

[–] degen@midwest.social 1 points 2 weeks ago

It's a bit of a chicken and the egg situation, I suppose, both encouraging and empowered by antisocial behavior. It's hard enough to convince someone there's a problem to begin with given the culture.

I do wonder how any transition could be made under an inherently opposed system, but that's also a key point of Marx with respect to revolution.