I’ve been lurking in here for all of 12 hours, which by internet terms makes me an expert… heh, not really. I’m not exactly an academic person, so as I read some of the recommended reading, I admit I only understood ~50% of it.
So here’s the thing right? I have ADHD inattentive type (which behooves me – is it a product of my brain, or a symptom of the modern system that caters to neurotypicals? Shrug). But I have never been able to keep a job longer than a year and some change. The rest of my life has been a mad dash to catch up to my peers, to find some form of work, to be literally screamed at by managers and feeling traumatized by the constant anxiety, stress and depression that comes with toxic work culture.
By some strange miracle, I’m about to graduate with a BFA in graphic design. I’m distraught though… the problem is work is… unfair? Is that what I’m trying to say? I don’t know, I’m rambling.
My question is: how do I go about making my life less difficult? Less work-centric? I must have been drinking the kook aid because even though I find myself in total agreement with what I’ve been reading about anti-work, I feel sheepish and embarrassed to even consider the notion. Of course you have to work and work and work until you die right? Why do I feel ashamed to reject that?
I want to also understand what people here envision for abolishing work? I understood at the end of Bob Black’s The Abolition of Work, he pretty much says that it’s hard to say how a new way of working would turn out. But, for example, how would I explain this whole concept to my workaholic father who would bend over backwards to lick every boot he can (I don’t blame him, he was a single dad with three kids and no support).
A decent situation for me: WFH 4 day work week @ $23 p/h. And a contract that prevents my termination for petty squabbles. Is that even possible?
Even better? Working as little as possible, living in a supportive community of likeminded people who “work” to live, not the other way around. You know, actually enjoying what are supposed to be the best years of my life.
Thoughts? Advice? Educate me, please.