Yeah, it used to be sunup to sundown, 6 days a week. And the seventh was hardly a day of rest. And, there was no retirement at 65. There was working until you died, or at least working until you were very feeble and hoping that your children would take care of you in your old age (which just added to the work they had to do). Work also wasn’t this thing that you had to start doing after university. It was this thing you started going before you hit puberty. You’d be feeding the animals, or helping mend the clothing as a child, and that work would continue for your entire life.
And, even if things were distributed more equitably, work would still be necessary. In fact, if things were distributed more equitably, it wouldn’t be illegal immigrants or immigrants on short-term visas doing a lot of the agricultural work, it would be the kinds of people who complain about their 9-5 jobs.
The sad fact is that getting enough variety on your plate, a comfortable roof over your head, and entertainment in your eyes requires a lot of work from a lot of people. It would be really nice if we lived in a post-scarcity world with replicators to provide any food anybody desired, and robots to repair everything that broke. But, we’re not there yet. Spending all day working 5 days a week feels rough, and maybe if things were more fairly distributed we’d only be working 3 days a week. But, until we invent the replicator, we’re still going to need farms, and farms will need farm workers, and farm workers will need mattresses and roofs and vehicles, and those vehicles will require tires, and those tires will need to be tested for safety, and those safety testers will need computers, and those computers will need programmers, and those programmers will need caffeine…
Of course we have to work. We still need food, water, shelter, etc., and machines will not fulfill these needs on their own (at least not yet). However, given the recent increases in productivity and corporate wealth, do you believe it is necessary for us to work as much as we do in order to fulfill everyone’s needs?
Yeah, it used to be sunup to sundown, 6 days a week. And the seventh was hardly a day of rest. And, there was no retirement at 65. There was working until you died, or at least working until you were very feeble and hoping that your children would take care of you in your old age (which just added to the work they had to do). Work also wasn’t this thing that you had to start doing after university. It was this thing you started going before you hit puberty. You’d be feeding the animals, or helping mend the clothing as a child, and that work would continue for your entire life.
And, even if things were distributed more equitably, work would still be necessary. In fact, if things were distributed more equitably, it wouldn’t be illegal immigrants or immigrants on short-term visas doing a lot of the agricultural work, it would be the kinds of people who complain about their 9-5 jobs.
The sad fact is that getting enough variety on your plate, a comfortable roof over your head, and entertainment in your eyes requires a lot of work from a lot of people. It would be really nice if we lived in a post-scarcity world with replicators to provide any food anybody desired, and robots to repair everything that broke. But, we’re not there yet. Spending all day working 5 days a week feels rough, and maybe if things were more fairly distributed we’d only be working 3 days a week. But, until we invent the replicator, we’re still going to need farms, and farms will need farm workers, and farm workers will need mattresses and roofs and vehicles, and those vehicles will require tires, and those tires will need to be tested for safety, and those safety testers will need computers, and those computers will need programmers, and those programmers will need caffeine…
Of course we have to work. We still need food, water, shelter, etc., and machines will not fulfill these needs on their own (at least not yet). However, given the recent increases in productivity and corporate wealth, do you believe it is necessary for us to work as much as we do in order to fulfill everyone’s needs?
Not quite as much, but not enough to make a major difference.