this post was submitted on 22 Jul 2023
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[–] [email protected] 2 points 1 year ago (1 children)

you shouldn’t have to work to exist, you shouldn’t have to be useful to anyone else to be part of a community

While I largely agree with your points (or at least some of the core of them) I think you’d have to flesh this out. For anything alive to exist, work needs to be done. And for anyone to be in a community people must mutually agree on membership. The “freeloader” problem isn’t a problem of ability where individuals “not useful” (and that gives me chills as much as it probably does you) to society can’t work, though it’s often framed that way to varying extents from both sides. I feel that it’s a problem where a large enough segment of the population would not be productive at what they could be doing simply because they don’t have to.

Our brains are literally wired to seek out more for less energy.

Again, I agree with most of your points, but these two could probably use a bit more explanation (at least to me)

[–] [email protected] 19 points 1 year ago* (last edited 1 year ago) (1 children)

We live in a time of unprecedented efficiency and automation. We over produce how much we require massively. Optimized, no not every human has to work. Work should be voluntary and without exploitation. Food water and shelter should be shared resources that no one is deprived of. We have the abundance to do this, we only don't because of the capitalist economic political and social systems which promote wage slavery (the concept that you don't deserve to live if you're not capable of producing labor value for capitalists).

Everyone should be encouraged to work and contribute. But no one should face death for being unable to do so. All work should be voluntary and people should be encouraged to work for their benefit, their family's benefit, and their community's benefit. Universal basic income should exist (in our society today) so that if you're being exploited you don't face either further exploitation or literally death. Supporting yourself and your family and society should be done because you believe in those things and you see the direct benefits of your contributions. The problem is capitalism has indoctrinated people to believe that work is not a mechanism of direct survival. It is a mechanism for attaining capital value, which is traded for direct survival.

It goes beyond that even, they indoctrinate us to believe that:

  1. Capitalism is natural and can be found in nature.

  2. Human beings are inherently uncooperative and hate each other. Plenty of human beings are uncooperative, but capitalism literally makes people uncooperative by continually reinforcing the hopelessness of helping others. How can you cooperate when your own survival solely depends on you being willing to give your labor value to capitalists in exchange for indirect survival?

  3. The homeless, the mentally ill, the addicted, all those who are unable or unwilling to give up their labor value to capitalists - they're all the picture of sin and vice and they are to be derided and hated for their inability to provide labor value to capitalists. That they are worthless, and should be treated like wild animals.

  4. On that note, they also indoctrinate us to believe that homelessness is natural. That its a personal failing.

When examined separately you can see that they pre-construct people's opinions to cooperation among the labor force. "Don't be a failure by not giving us your labor value." "Don't help those who we deem failures." "Being a failure, by our definition, is a personal choice and not a product of exploitation." "Our system is natural, the natural world has capitalist-type hierarchies. So it is unchallengable."

Bear in mind that politically I am an anarchist. In my eyes no society has ever done nearly enough to create real equality. And I fundamentally disagree with all social hierarchies.

[–] [email protected] 2 points 1 year ago* (last edited 1 year ago)

That is very well-put. I would also add that to perpetuate the dogma that your only worth is your labor we have bullshit jobs.