Comment by lukev | Hacker News Reader

Comment by lukev | Hacker News Reader

I liked the factual analysis and the story of /r/antiwork.

But regarding the actual topic of work I think it sets up a false dichotomy; that one is either a sane normal person who thinks productivity is good, or an out-of-touch anarcho-communist.

There is actually a very large middle ground which represents the most balanced view towards work; that most work is a necessary evil. It's not that work is good or desirable, it's that it (both individually and as a society) is necessary for survival or to maintain a certain standard of living.

If technology and automation could allow those who wanted to have only a 10-hour work week, with the same lifestyle, that would be unequivocally a good thing.

I'm not an anarchist, but in this sense I am very much anti-work.

Technology and automation already allow us to have a 10-hour work week with the same lifestyle.

Capitalism, on the other hand...

> that would be unequivocally a good thing.

Why? Work is a net positive in people's lives.

There's a saying something like "people don't leave bad jobs, they leave bad bosses" that can be extrapolated a bit. Work can be very positive and rewarding, or it can be negative and abusive. Everyone's experience is different; sometimes I feel that the fact r/antiwork has attained such saliency is maybe a sign that there's too much of the latter experience and not enough of the former.

I disagree with this, at least as a blanket statement. Plenty of workplaces are a deeply negative factor in people's lives.

If what you're saying is really more along the lines of "having a project and way to spend the time is a net positive", then I completely agree, but I don't think that has to be tightly coupled to work (as in employment) per se.

Those problems have nothing to do with the nature of work. Bad management, low pay and too many hours have no bearing on the importance of work.

It allows you to contribute to society and get social validation. "Personal projects" typically do neither (if they did, they would be lucrative). Even the boring stuff can be meditative. Provided the conditions are adequate, work is good for people and society at large.

Reply on news.ycombinator.com