Antiwork

Does anyone else feel similarly? Jobs are not the purpose of life.

I have been at my company for just over a year as an important member of the supply chain team. I interviewed and was actually offered the job just as covid hit and the company implemented a hiring freeze so my offer got put on hold. Nearly a year later they came back with an offer that was non-negotiable (their exact words) but it was still better pay than where I was and more along the lines of where I wanted my career to go so I accepted. The atmosphere when I started was just flat out strange. Nobody talked to each other about anything non-work related. And I mean nothing. I worked in a room with one person and 6 months in I still knew zero about them. Every attempt at conversation ended awkwardly and I finally gave up. I'm not an extrovert by any means but it was…

I quit my toxic ass job two days ago. My manager was toxic as fuck and gaslights me all the time. That bitch Didnt even fake to be friendly, fucking bitch. Everyone acted like they care in front of me but behind my back they talk shit. I worked really hard on difficult projects – they did not appreciate. My client was fucking crazy moron. My company did not back me up. I hope this company goes out of business. I gave my 2 weeks notice, they want me to work and grind before I leave. For what? Lol fuck that shit

And I don’t regret a thing. This happened a while ago but I thought you’d all enjoy this story. My work abused my role as an essential worker (I was a phone operator in the healthcare industry) and demanded 8 weeks notice for any holiday requests, including the amendment or cancellation of previously booked holidays. I worked weekends only, and we were continually understaffed and overworked. I had booked out 3 weeks holiday for study leave, which I then tried to cancel. This cancellation was refused as it wasn’t in the 8 week timeframe, so I was made to take my holidays. As a result, I used all of my allocated annual leave. The company sent mass begging texts (which I also received) looking for people to cover those weekend shifts. Summer comes along and Covid has cancelled my university graduation. My friend organised a garden party for us all…

I remember reading a book about the German Chancellor Otto von Bismarck. One passage which really stuck with me was when Germany had won Alsace-Lorraine from France, leading to Bismarck stating that Germany was now a “satisfied power”. I remember it still because it surprised me that a nation so used to expanding itself militarily could simply “stop” once it felt satisfied with its borders. I also remember it because it revealed to me the unsustainability of capitalism. If we look at what capitalism — a system where value creation is incentivized by profit — actually is, it becomes clear that it can't exist indefinitely without becoming detrimental to the countries it exists in. The problem with tying value creation to ever-rising expectations of profit is that value creation is finite. If we look at almost every industry 30 years or older, we can see this. At some point, every…