The problem with "Work?": A tribute to Bob Black...

 What is the problem with work? 

As with many things in the contemporary language called "English," we have words with multiple meanings and connotations. This leads to confusion and misunderstandings. Which can then be taken advantage of by those who know better, those who don't seek to inform but to derive power over others through ignorance. There is a reason Richard Grove says "English is a slave language." So, we need to rise above it. With that in mind, we must be careful to define our terms and gently seek understanding rather than rushing and being misunderstood. 

To quote from Bob Black's essay from 1985 "The Abolition of Work": 

"No one should ever work. 

Work is the source of nearly all the misery in the world. Almost any evil you’d care to name comes from working or from living in a world designed for work. In order to stop suffering, we have to stop working. 

That doesn’t mean we have to stop doing things. It does mean creating a new way of life based on play; in other words, a ludic revolution. By “play” I mean also festivity, creativity, conviviality, commensality, and maybe even art. There is more to play than child’s play, as worthy as that is. I call for a collective adventure in generalized joy and freely interdependent exuberance. Play isn’t passive. Doubtless we all need a lot more time for sheer sloth and slack than we ever enjoy now, regardless of income or occupation, but once recovered from employment-induced exhaustion nearly all of us want to act."

Bob continues: "My minimum definition of work is forced labor, that is, compulsory production. Both elements are essential. Work is production enforced by economic or political means, by the carrot or the stick. (The carrot is just the stick by other means.) But not all creation is work. Work is never done for its own sake, it’s done on account of some product or output that the worker (or, more often, somebody else) gets out of it. This is what work necessarily is. To define it is to despise it. But work is usually even worse than its definition decrees. The dynamic of domination intrinsic to work tends over time toward elaboration. In advanced work-riddled societies, including all industrial societies whether capitalist or “communist,” work invariably acquires other attributes which accentuate its obnoxiousness."

I will add my own interpretation at this point. Bob is certainly correct about his assertions of the carrot or the stick. Alfie Kohn's book "Punished by Rewards" explains why. Rewards and punishment are manipulative. People don't like being manipulated. Work as wage-slavery is being motivated to do something primarily for the acquisition of fiat money rather than creating recognizable benefit or value for everyone involved. Further, if we were to substitute a different term, labor, for work, which as a woman "in labor" births a incredible infinite value... a newborn baby. An individual, through caring action, or labor, can birth something recognizably more beneficial or valuable. Keeping this in mind when visualizing the end goal and all the tasks from beginning til end in the process, we have the blank slate to begin redesigning work into play, or playgrounds.

"...modern work has worse implications. People don’t just work, they have “jobs.” One person does one productive task all the time on an or-else basis. Even if the task has a quantum of intrinsic interest (as increasingly many jobs don’t) the monotony of its obligatory exclusivity drains its ludic potential."

"This is the real world of work: a world of bureaucratic blundering, of sexual harassment and discrimination, of bonehead bosses exploiting and scapegoating their subordinates who — by any rational-technical criteria — should be calling the shots. But capitalism in the real world subordinates the rational maximization of productivity and profit to the exigencies of organizational control."

Sounds a bit harsh, but one has to look out into the world... seeing all the inequity and have to wonder if there isn't a better way? I think in that regard Bob's view, he does have a point. We could take more time to think about what we are doing for money, is it ethical? Are we participating in harm unknowingly? Could we create something that truly offered something that was more valuable, that we also enjoyed? I believe the answer is Yes! 

Slowing down to talk a long look at what we are participating in isn't easy. But maybe we can start with something we could call "Structured Play." Where we design our own methods by systematically breaking down what appears to be work into tasks that can be redesigned into playgrounds that each person contributes to.

I believe that's the environment being seeded in Autonomy. People have been steered in the wrong direction for a century or more now by corrupted "learning" institutions... now is the time for an alternative! Autonomy offers those of us who strive for that possibility, a laboratory to experiment with. A better world is possible, and why not start today?

Respirar Acapulco is an effort to collaborate. Knowledgeable, trustworthy people coming together with a willing community of Acapulco, which is strategically located, fertile ground for entrepreneurs, has a low cost of living, a high quality of life, a healthy culture, and much more. Here, we can demonstrate and breathe life into the tremendous possibilities of tomorrow for truth, freedom, and prosperity for all who desire it, together. You are invited to participate! Join us!.