When I first noticed Antiwork a month ago, it was about unionization within PetSmart and through a few popular posts about mistreated employees who were asking for advice or have successfully stood up for themselves against shit bosses/employers. It was amazing to see because I’ve had fear standing up for myself before in risk of losing my job and income — the fear of being in debt or homeless since I believed I didn’t have the skills to find another job. The number of people who were fighting back helped me gain some courage, confidence, and the stories gave me awareness of what I can do or how I can deal with a shit work situation. I didn’t feel alone specially when people I knew in person would simply say in acceptance that “it’s like that everywhere” or “it’s just something you have to deal with” preventing me from trying to find a different job with better work conditions. Well, no. I don’t have to deal with it if I have the option not to. It was an amazing feeling so I continued to read the highly voted posts that would appear in my feed. It was a mix of personal stories, screenshots of social media posts, and memes (which I don’t care for). What made Antiwork meaningful to me were the personal stories told by struggling employees who are currently experiencing or have experienced toxic to illegal situations. The fact that they’re here asking for advice, challenging that fear, making a change for themselves, finally realizing their worth, fighting back and hopefully finding some form of justice against their employers is really great to see. Antiwork changed my perspective significantly.
I believe Antiwork provides some level of support and awareness to struggling workers out there. It’s a step that may or may not be enough to change the direction of someone’s life. I can only hope that it leads to something better for that person as they continue their fight.
The Fox News interview I ignored mostly. As bad as the decision was for that mod to participate in, it wasn’t going to stop me from being part of such a movement. Although, I still have no fcking idea what that mod was thinking about getting in a Fox News interview and representing the subreddit as a whole. It clearly shook the community and possibly made the subreddit look like a joke to many (probably even more unconvincing now for capitalism believers). But there’s an essence here that should be respected and held onto. It doesn’t have to be in a subreddit called “Antiwork” — it’s just a name and the ideals for better living and work conditions are not held solely by it. We can take this elsewhere if we have to by continuing sharing experiences and spreading awareness in under a new name and sticking together overall.
Beyond fighting for better work conditions and specially better living wages, I struggle to pin point the purpose of Antiwork.
Is it trying to bring down capitalism? Trying to change it into something new that works for both sides? Is it completely against working in general so people can live and do whatever they want?
The Antiwork name is confusing in itself since we can’t avoid many levels of work. There are job positions out there that can’t be ignored for society to properly function such as having doctors to heal the sick. The description alone says, “A subreddit for those who want to end work, are curious about ending work, want to get the most out of a work-free life…” There are many unnecessary jobs out there but there are also many that are essential for human living.
It’s chaotic and as someone had mentioned in another post recently, lacks structure. I wish I had the ability to get people together and work to improve what we have here already, but I don’t know how to start it.
So, what is r/antiwork to you?