Antiwork

This is a long one so strap in bois. I was diagnosed with ADHD some years ago and have been taking medication for it for about four years now. I was very relieved to receive my diagnosis and medication because it felt like I could finally be on a level playing field as everyone else, and function like an actual adult. The thing is though, that my medication kills every part of me that is incompatible with being productive; parts of me that I love. The part of me that gets really excited and passionate about a thing that I love, the part of me that’s creative and also a little all over the place. On the one hand, I berate myself for having ADHD and not being able to “function properly”. But on the other hand I know that I am an extremely hard worker when it’s work that…

During the pandemic, I began to think a lot about human existence, why we’re here etc. I started looking at theories of consciousness and the multiverse theory, all coming to the same conclusion. That current human society is pointless and fake. We are born through no choice of our own, entering a world that values money and achieving things. As children we’re constantly told to aspire to the next level, and then the next; always ‘what career do you aspire to’, ‘what’s your dream job’. There’s never any sense of achievement when you get there. I’ve been through school, college, a Bachelor’s degree and finally a Master’s, yet that’s not enough for even the most basic jobs. It’s so demotivating. Now it’s just more the same, but now to try and survive, spending 5/7 days of life working some pointless job, competing for It’s frustrating and I just don’t care.…

Throughout history access to material needs has been the flashpoint for any large scale public revolt. Credit has made it possible to stagnate wages and increase prices. We eat food and buy clothes and other novelty items and services we don’t actually have the means to pay for, receive education and ‘hope’ for a better life without anyone (including taxpayers) actually paying for it. Can even pay rent in credit in some places. Credit and loans just perpetuate the myth that our time and labor isn’t being undervalued while we aren’t actively enslaving ourselves settling for less and keeping the wheels turning. How much of the working class could survive without credit cards? If people weren’t able to buy things either prices would fall or wages would increase (in theory who knows what these ghouls would actually do) or there would be revolt yet here we are

So I have two job offers right now. One is a legal assistant/paralegal at 45k with full benefits and would give me really valuable experience if I want to stay on that path. The other is an Admin Assistant/Communications Specialist for a local union at 55k and even better benefits. You guys are probably rolling your eyes thinking DUH TAKE THE 55k but I’m not sure if starting a bit lower as a legal assistant would lead to higher paying legal jobs in the future, over 55k. For reference I majored in political science then went to law school for a year and did a legal internship before dropping out. So I kinda feel like it’s the only industry I can actually break into. Like the communications job won’t lead to other similar positions because I don’t have a major in that. What do you guys think?

Antiwork movies I have seen are: Office Space (now on Prime again, was payable till recently) Brazil Metropolis (much of) Quadrophenia 9 to 5 The IT Crowd Sweeney Todd (I think this counts, there is much likening of capitalism to cannibalism) … Any suggestions? Or things with a similar vibe, perhaps more in the anarchist line. This Q was asked not too long back .. but any more suggestions? I also love movies where the protagonist is just an average schmuck, at least until propelled out of their depth by events. I suppose “Total Recall” counts, or sticking with PKD, his “Galactic Pot-Healer” novel. Novels have wider themes, but examples I can think of are The Ragged Trousered Philanthropists (piecework decorators) Saturday Night and Sunday Morning (piecework lathe operator) Charles Bukowski has some of the rejectionist, embrace-dropping-out vibe Some Dickens is horribly realistic about the inhuman conditions of Victorian labour…