Work

We spend so much of our time and energy working, that we never really get the chance to explore the question of what really is work, anyways? Where did it come from, and who does it serve? There is no question that in order to stay alive work needs to get done. Living in a time of upheaval, we sense that there’s very important work to do — and for many of us, that’s not the work we’re actually doing.

Further, today it is common to meet needs through someone else’s labor, without reciprocation. Such arrangements are prone to exploitation and are entwined with the greatest challenges of our time. Simultaneously, under capitalism, almost all laborers receive less than the full value of their work. Thus, members of the working class (all who must work for another person or entity to earn wages so they can pay for necessities) are typically working in inherently exploitative arrangements. Additionally, capitalism relies upon – and is continually subsidized by – unpaid work in the so-called “informal economy” (or non-monetary economy).

Most of us exist in a state of alienation that amounts to having (at least) two “full-time” jobs – the work for wages and the work for ourselves. This leaves little time for (the work of) pursuing passions, participating in community, and pursuing transformative change. To add insult to injury, as many wage-labor jobs have been automated or accelerated by technology, there has been an increase in the amount of work we are doing that is decidedly not necessary. Rather than redistributing the work that is essential to more people and reducing our wage-working hours, or mobilizing around the existential crises we face, most of us now work faster and longer just to meet our needs and eke out some semblance of individual security in an uncertain world.

In this unprecedented time, it is imperative that we examine our relationship to and reclaim some control over our labor, individually and collectively. If we divest from the myths of progress and efficiency, we might find ourselves inclined to re-establish forms of shared subsistence. We might reorganize power and practice prefiguration in our workplaces. And we might even toss out dated and impossible-to-achieve notions of work-life balance in favor of work-life integration.

If you’d like to meets more of your needs (and those of your neighbors) with less exploitation, actually respond to accelerating crises, and find joy in good work, start by joining us for this EcoGathering. What diverse arrangements for getting the work done in a weird world can we imagine anew and return to?

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