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Um, stupid question… Who TF “dreams” of being some billionare’s “labor”? Folks “labor” out of a lack of choice; so they might survive in this world. They labo

Um, stupid question… Who TF “dreams” of being some billionare’s “labor”? Folks “labor” out of a lack of choice; so they might survive in this world. They labor for the chance to dream.

lilsoso 5y ago
People routinely comment on this site about how they enjoy engineering and challenging problems, and how they dislike jobs with meetings, or not enough work, or fluff. Those people, perhaps without realizing it, often enjoy 'being some billionare’s labor'.
- falcolas 5y ago
  I get what you're saying, but TFA isn't really referring to highly skilled labor. It's referring to filling the jobs that very, very few people actually want to do. The garbage collectors. The wait staff. Toll booth operators. Assembly line workers. Taxi drivers. Construction laborers. Truck loading/unloading. Ditch diggers. And so on. And even those with the coveted skills - they'd probably rather work for themselves than someone else. But either they don't have the business skills, or the financial means. That said, sure, speaking in absolutes is absolutely wrong. ;)
- cuteboy19 5y ago
  Much of the discourse around antiwork is bait and switch. What applies to manual labor intensive jobs does not apply to engineering jobs.
bombcar 5y ago
There was a time in this very country where factory jobs were quite aspirational, that people would move across the country to Detroit for a chance to make Mr Ford a bit richer. Because it promised a good life for their family; and they'd end up having pride in the work they did.
- falcolas 5y ago
  To phrase this slightly differently, you might say they dreamed of a good life for their family; working for Mr. Ford was the best way for an uneducated father to do so. Is this a dream of labor? IMO, no. The work was the vehicle to their dreams, not the dream itself. Perhaps this is too fine a delineation, but that's my view of it. Of course, such a job - a job an uneducated man or woman can be the "breadwinner" for their family with - barely exists today. My own father made $40 an hour as a lineman for Mountain Bell (plus a pension), back in the 80's. That exact same job today pays minimum wage, with no retirement benefits.

lilsoso 5y ago

People routinely comment on this site about how they enjoy engineering and challenging problems, and how they dislike jobs with meetings, or not enough work, or fluff. Those people, perhaps without realizing it, often enjoy 'being some billionare’s labor'.

falcolas 5y ago
I get what you're saying, but TFA isn't really referring to highly skilled labor. It's referring to filling the jobs that very, very few people actually want to do. The garbage collectors. The wait staff. Toll booth operators. Assembly line workers. Taxi drivers. Construction laborers. Truck loading/unloading. Ditch diggers. And so on. And even those with the coveted skills - they'd probably rather work for themselves than someone else. But either they don't have the business skills, or the financial means. That said, sure, speaking in absolutes is absolutely wrong. ;)
cuteboy19 5y ago
Much of the discourse around antiwork is bait and switch. What applies to manual labor intensive jobs does not apply to engineering jobs.

bombcar 5y ago

There was a time in this very country where factory jobs were quite aspirational, that people would move across the country to Detroit for a chance to make Mr Ford a bit richer. Because it promised a good life for their family; and they'd end up having pride in the work they did.

falcolas 5y ago
To phrase this slightly differently, you might say they dreamed of a good life for their family; working for Mr. Ford was the best way for an uneducated father to do so. Is this a dream of labor? IMO, no. The work was the vehicle to their dreams, not the dream itself. Perhaps this is too fine a delineation, but that's my view of it. Of course, such a job - a job an uneducated man or woman can be the "breadwinner" for their family with - barely exists today. My own father made $40 an hour as a lineman for Mountain Bell (plus a pension), back in the 80's. That exact same job today pays minimum wage, with no retirement benefits.