Hello everyone. I have been on this subreddit for a long time. I have been here, before this subreddit blew up, and I guess I am part of the old guard, one of those who actually wants society to abolish work (forced labour), rather than just reform it.
Back in the day, all the time, we had Capitalist trolls coming here to call us lazy or entitled. Some of the smarter ones however, instead, asked the question “If you hate being a wageslave so much, why don't you start your own business / grow your own food?”. And in case any of those Capitalist lurkers are still lurking this subreddit for some reason, here is my answer to that question… or rather, here are my answers:
- Easier said then done. I'm not sure if the anti-work movement or philosophy has any symphatizers from the upper castes of society, but I'm going to guess no. I think it's safe to say, that the bulk of us anti-workers aren't exactly rich. Many of us are struggling to even pay rent, so obviously, the idea of buying a farm or starting a business is seriously out of the question.
- Ineffective. Anti-work isn't Libertarianism. While yes, we do we want to increase personal autonomy (and view the existence of work – forced labour – as an unacceptable reduction to our personal liberty), our ultimate goal isn't autarky or self-reliance, but instead the effective utilisation of technology and infrastructure to minimize the need for human labour, and maximize our comfort. Which is to say, we want to leverage our technology – technology which relies on the existence of a central system – to minimize the need to work, and maximize our free time. Why would we want to create a world where everyone toils the field with rakes, when we have mechanized agriculture? It's literally turning the clock back, and just creates more work – and we're anti-work. It's glorified Luddism, which is the antithesis of anti-work.
- It goes against the very point of society and civilisation. Yes, work is bad, and we ultimately want to abolish it, but specialization is still good: everyone specializes at a different task for higher effectiveness. If a single farmer can produce enough food for thousands of people, there is no need to make everyone else farm. It's literally counterproductive. The whole point of a developed economy should be to let us live in comfort while working little. Wanting to turn everyone into a farmer is the antithesis of that: making everyone perform unnecessary and ineffective menial labour just for the heck of it.
The goal isn't to create a world where everyone toils the field with ineffective hand tools. The goal is to create a world, where technology allows less than 1% of the population to farm enough food to feed the rest. The goal is not Luddism or primitivism, but instead, a world where everyone can benefit from technological advances. We want Fully Automated Luxury Gay Space Communism, not a return to the Neolithic.