William Morris - Useful Work versus Useless Toil
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William Morris - Useful Work versus Useless Toil
First of all: what is work? Work is of two kinds: first, altering the position of matter at or near the earth’s surface relatively to other such matter; second, telling other people to do so. The first kind is unpleasant and ill paid; the second is pleasant and highly paid. The second kind is capable of indefinite extension: there are not only thos... See more
harpers.org • In Praise of Idleness
One important new idea that emerged from Marx for our purposes is as follows: we saw work as an activity that was supposed to endow us with happiness and a sense of humanity. This was a strange new concept, and although it sprang up as a reaction against capitalism, there is no doubt that it is now part of the capitalist creed. How many of us talk
... See moreDerren Brown • Happy: Why More or Less Everything is Absolutely Fine
Exploitation is not merely extra-bad work, or a job you particularly dislike. These are the delusions foisted on us by the labor-of-love myth. Exploitation is wage labor under capitalism, where the work you put in produces more value than the wages you are paid are worth. Exploitation is the process by which someone else profits from your labor.
Sarah Jaffe • Work Won't Love You Back: How Devotion to Our Jobs Keeps Us Exploited, Exhausted, and Alone
Hard Work is Only Sometimes Necessary and Never Sufficient, But What Else Can You Do?
Freddie deBoerfreddiedeboer.substack.com
[…] Human beings have organized their lives in such a way that some never work, while forcing others to work for them. Consequently they become bored because they don’t know what to do, and they think up all kinds of stupid and repellent activities to keep themselves occupied, whereas the others work night and day, and suffer because they have to w
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