I think a big reason why work feels bad is because in many jobs the surplus value of your labor is being stolen by the executives. When you put in effort to personal projects that feels good because you are actually getting to reap the rewards of your labor.
People like doing stuff that’s useful, not just for ourselves but for others as well. What we don’t like is being exploited.
Yeah the myth that people don’t want to work is crazy to me. How do all these insane open source projects exist then? Why did I spend extra effort to contribute to a project when I already got it working for myself? Most people just inherently like working on things they think will help other people.
Probably because a lot of people find programming fun. I am not convinced that people hold the same enthusiasm for customer service or sorting through recyclables, despite people generally agreeing that people need to be serviced and materials need to be recycled. And when I got slapped while working the register it definitely was not the fault of the exploitation inherent in the capitalist system. In fact I don’t think I would have enjoyed it even if I directly pocketed every cent handed over to me as the fruit of my labor.
Yeah I would agree with that, but I think even working retail, with no managers breathing down your neck making sure you aren’t relaxing for 1 second, and having not dead inside coworkers with you so any rude customers are less of an issue, even that could turn into “want to work.”
Sorting recyclables yeah and I would add things like sewage work, definitely some that very few would want to work at. I would say a majority could be “want to work” though, like repair work, tech support, even yard work is pretty rewarding if you’re not forced to do it 8 hours a day to survive.
All my jobs involved doing stuff that I already liked — and of course, I also complained about it, but it sure was way better than working for Amazons or coal mines or whatever it is USians are doing these days.
I think a big reason why work feels bad is because in many jobs the surplus value of your labor is being stolen by the executives. When you put in effort to personal projects that feels good because you are actually getting to reap the rewards of your labor.
People like doing stuff that’s useful, not just for ourselves but for others as well. What we don’t like is being exploited.
Yeah the myth that people don’t want to work is crazy to me. How do all these insane open source projects exist then? Why did I spend extra effort to contribute to a project when I already got it working for myself? Most people just inherently like working on things they think will help other people.
Probably because a lot of people find programming fun. I am not convinced that people hold the same enthusiasm for customer service or sorting through recyclables, despite people generally agreeing that people need to be serviced and materials need to be recycled. And when I got slapped while working the register it definitely was not the fault of the exploitation inherent in the capitalist system. In fact I don’t think I would have enjoyed it even if I directly pocketed every cent handed over to me as the fruit of my labor.
Yeah I would agree with that, but I think even working retail, with no managers breathing down your neck making sure you aren’t relaxing for 1 second, and having not dead inside coworkers with you so any rude customers are less of an issue, even that could turn into “want to work.”
Sorting recyclables yeah and I would add things like sewage work, definitely some that very few would want to work at. I would say a majority could be “want to work” though, like repair work, tech support, even yard work is pretty rewarding if you’re not forced to do it 8 hours a day to survive.
All my jobs involved doing stuff that I already liked — and of course, I also complained about it, but it sure was way better than working for Amazons or coal mines or whatever it is USians are doing these days.