Hating Your Life's Work
In an economic system where work is generally hated, what would you rather do?
What would you rather do with your life than work?
I think capitalism has transformed the idea of work into an evil that we are systematically coerced into performing. The -ism decrees that if we do not break our back at tasks that we dislike, we will starve, be houseless, have no friends, and be unable to access healthcare.
The capitalist system convinces us that if we are not constantly under the threat of starvation and houselessness, we will cease to work.
What moved me to put down words on the subject of work is my experience as a newly inducted member of the labor force who is happy to be here.
I’m not new to working for money. At this point, I have pretty consistently worked for about 6 years. What has changed between then and now is that through those periods, even with the numerous ASUU and doctor strikes, I was still a student, not a worker.
The torture of being a student made me suspect that working would be as awful. I concluded that work demanded the same monotony and obedience to instruction as school had forced on me for years.
The reviews from those already part of the workforce were overwhelmingly negative, and I would contemplate how cruel it was to live a life of hating what you do to live.
The hint I should have taken before I officially became a worker was that even as a student, work offered the mental engagement and sense of fulfilment I desperately required.
Maybe it is different for those people who insist that idleness is what they would rather spend their life on, but I would lose my mind. Even without paid labour to perform, I would find projects such as this to keep my insanity at bay.
It is impossible to imagine life devoid of work. What is the alternative? Endless consumption of media, food, fashion, and such and such… I don’t know about you but consuming leaves me empty. What fulfills is adding, not taking value.
I know work can be stressful and uninspiring some days, and there are many reforms needed to transform the system in which we interact with it. But at its core, it is essential to humans on every level.
The claim that we must be threatened with destitution is ridiculous at best. Think of all the unpaid labor you do each day, from straightening your bed to drinking water, caring for your children, and washing your underwear. We do not do them for monetary reward but because they are necessary.
Our toxic relationship with our life’s works is partly because we do not earn the impact of most of the value we create. We are profited off by corrupt governments and private owners who make themselves needlessly wealthy on the backs of our labor.
As my mind always reminds me these days, I am biased to my perspective. Your reality may be so different from mine that you can joyfully exist without doing anything meaningful for the rest of your life.
This is not a critique of capitalism, this is an ode to work. This is just my opinion, life is not possible, not worth living without work.
I’ve been away from my Substack for a whole month, and I’m sorry about that. My mind has not been idle enough for me to analyze a subject to a point that I can discuss it.
I’ve missed writing, and I hope you still care.
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