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Antiwork

antiwork is doing some a disservice

From what I've read of r/antiwork, it should be called r/antijerk or r/antiasshole. What I see people legitimately complain about is mostly asshole bosses and/or terrible working conditions. People are impressionable, some more than others, and particularly the young. In short, I worry that young people will come to think work=bad. “Work” is not the problem. We should not be antiwork, IMO. Assholes and poor working conditions are the problem. Some people will associate those problems with work itself. Work is rewarding for many of us, and I don't just mean financially. Work gives (most of) us purpose. Imagine you are 18 and you think work is bad. The vast majority of us will have to work in order to make ends meet for most of our lives. Going into that with the notion that work is bad just sets you up for a life of misery. Helping people is…


From what I've read of r/antiwork, it should be called r/antijerk or r/antiasshole. What I see people legitimately complain about is mostly asshole bosses and/or terrible working conditions.

People are impressionable, some more than others, and particularly the young. In short, I worry that young people will come to think work=bad. “Work” is not the problem. We should not be antiwork, IMO. Assholes and poor working conditions are the problem. Some people will associate those problems with work itself. Work is rewarding for many of us, and I don't just mean financially. Work gives (most of) us purpose.

Imagine you are 18 and you think work is bad. The vast majority of us will have to work in order to make ends meet for most of our lives. Going into that with the notion that work is bad just sets you up for a life of misery. Helping people is rewarding. Crafting a product is rewarding. Caring for others is rewarding. Any job done well is rewarding.

TL;DR: Work is rewarding. Be antijerk, not antiwork.

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