AFFIRMATIVE - CRITIQUE - CRITIQUE OF WORK 337

ANSWER: WORK IS NEEDED TO ACHIEVE SOCIAL RESPONSIBILITY AND MUTUAL CONCERN

BOB BLACK NOTWITHSTANDING, WORK REMAINS TO BE DONE BECAUSE WE CARE FOR AND ABOUT EACH OTHER

Neala Schleuning, 1995; The Abolition of Work and Other Myths; This article originally appeared in issue #35 (Summer, 1995) of Kick It Over // acs

Paul LaFargue's 19th century call for the right to be lazy and Bob Black's recent exhortations notwithstanding, it seems that, work is with us, and shall be with us, even if we remain committed to a high level of technological development. By its very nature, work requires a long term, commitment. Much of the work to be done in any society is not a matter of choice. And much work will certainly not be exciting, or necessarily creative. The soiled diapers of the child must be changed; seeds must be planted and tended, the food gathered, stored in a variety of ways, prepared, and cooked (in northern climates moreso); fuel and shelter must be arranged for cooling and warmth; children must be tended, people must be healed, clothed.

WE CANNOT ALLOW PEOPLE TO REFUSE TO DO THE "SURVIVAL WORK" THAT THE COMMUNITY MUST HAVE

Neala Schleuning, 1995; The Abolition of Work and Other Myths; This article originally appeared in issue #35 (Summer, 1995) of Kick It Over // acs

As human beings, we have the obligation to contribute, at minimum, to collective survival work. No. one should have the luxury of refusing to work. To share in this collective survival work is not necessarily oppressive. Doing this for others, for their use, their satisfaction, and knowing and trusting that others will do the same for you is the essence of work. What is oppressive is forced labour, exploited labour, labour which creates goods and services not to enhance social connections, but to be commodified, to exchange. We need a radical restructuring of work, not its abolition. And we need to begin with the question, "what do we do for each - other?" "what is our work?", not just ask each other what we "do," what our individual labour is, how we fit into the system that isolates us. When we are truly invested in our work, we will solve the problems of who will care for the children, feed and clothe us, build our shelters, plant our gardens.

REFUSAL TO WORK IS ARROGANT AND CHILDISH, AND IGNORES SOCIAL RESPONSIBILITIES

Neala Schleuning, 1995; The Abolition of Work and Other Myths; This article originally appeared in issue #35 (Summer, 1995) of Kick It Over // acs

The refusal to work is arrogant, and probably also a bit childlike. It is certainly individualistic and self-serving. May I risk an observation that this philosophy is probably especially appealing to the young and strong and healthy who have no responsibilities (or who think they have no responsibilities) for the care of others. Some abolition of work arguments are grounded in the ideology of a personal, individual work ethic rather than a social ethic, e.g., I have no responsibility to anyone but myself.

ANTI-WORK POSITION IS SOCIALLY IRRESPONSIBLE, AND DROPPING OUT OF THE WORKFORCE IS NEITHER PRODUCTIVE NOR PRACTICAL FOR NON-ELITES

Neala Schleuning, 1995; The Abolition of Work and Other Myths; This article originally appeared in issue #35 (Summer, 1995) of Kick It Over // acs

Demanding the right to be lazy or refusing to work is a position of resistance only. It is precious in its self-centeredness, and basically socially irresponsible. Like many things in fragmented contemporary culture, rather than being a liberatory position it is instead symbolic of how powerless people feel. "Dropping out" is basically a statement of political despair, and is a modern nihilist response which unfortunately quite effectively removes the individual from the political arena (assuming the classical definition of politics as a collective act). Dropping, out is also an individualistic act which is a very ineffective political tool. Individualism is at once a strength and a weakness of political activism. One of the primary dangers is that all the problems of modern individualistic culture can be reduced (as is our consumption) to individual choice and/or blame. For example, our skies are filled with pollution, but instead of going after the polluters, we challenge each other individually about our smoking habits; when wages are reduced or jobs are eliminated to create more profit for the corporation, we turn on each other and the work environment becomes a battleground pitting one individual against another; our work is dull and boring, so we solve the problem by individually dropping out. What we should demand instead is control of polluters, and the right to control and define our work. To demand to be lazy is only to remove oneself from an unpleasant situation. It does not empower that individual. It is a politics born, probably, of a luxury society where a few who are not locked into the "system" can stand outside and make fun of the rest of us.