Incoming long rant:
It’s the “anymore” part that gets me because nobody has ever wanted to work. My dad says it all the time which is so ironic considering we’re black Americans. Does he not know why slavery exists? I know Atlantic slave trade is more complex than the colonizers not wanting to work but this country was built on free labor that they didn’t want to do. I’m not saying what we’re going through today (at least not within the states, maybe at the sweatshops overseas) is slavery but i will say most work is modeled after slavery. We’re expected to work our asses off to make our higher ups richer while we barely get our basic needs met. Most workplaces are toxic because everyone’s miserable and playing work politics to make more money to survive. Everyone’s miserable because we’re all in survival mode. So many people are one emergency away from losing it all. There’s little room for mistakes and wrong turns in life.
I digress. I hate the saying “nobody wants to work anymore” because I think it’s just that nobody has ever wanted to work for a living. People don’t want their worth to be tied to their productivity. I just have a hard time believing if we didn’t have to work, then nobody would do anything. Many homeless people on the streets have that lifestyle because the economy and generational trauma has set them up for failure. Some people would rather sink than try to swim in an economy that many people who are trying to swim are barely floating in. In a hypothetical perfect world, I think people want to do work that they care about doing.
I’m beginning to believe people are inherently good but socialized to be greedy and/or depressed because we can’t afford to be kind. Kindness means slowing down, tuning into yourself and surroundings, not taking advantage of people, etc. In the aforementioned hypothetical perfect world, I think we would have a collectivist attitude and find fulfillment giving back to the community. I think people would want to spend time with loved ones, farm to feed the community, educate the community, heal the community, etc.
I’m sure I could be wrong and this is wishful thinking. Bottom line I believe people want to work but most people are miserable working to live. Thanks for coming to my Ted talk.