Post-Work Really Means Post-Jobs

Let’s be clear that the post-work future suggested by the Non-Workers Paradise does not mean we will not work, nor will it necessarily be a paradise. [A note on “terms” is at the bottom].

• We will still “work” in the future, but not in formal paid jobs. We will not need to have a job in order survive. But there are still job-like activities that will need to be done. To use a crude example, hunter-gathers needed to gather food, construct shelters, build fires, etc., but these were not full-time paid jobs. The industrial revolution really coalesced or consolidated the approach of paying of wages for jobs, primarily but not exclusively in “go to work/to the job).
• Paradise is in the eye of the beholder. If one has a “pina colada on the beach” view, that may need to be adjusted. Sure we are working toward a future that is more like paradise than not. But, and this is crucial, it ain’t going to be easy! If we are smart in applying the AI and automation from Tech-Led Abundance, that would be a big help. It is an “if” though. There is still lots of work-like activity to do. Changing the socio-economic order, a global system, is going to take a lot of work. Figuring out distribution/re-distribution; helping under-developed areas of the globe; saving the environment. Yes, plenty to do ahead.

A bit of a downer? I think we need to balance the appeal of the goal with the reality of the hard work to get there. I suspect many of us don’t mind hard work – particularly hard work towards achieving a noble goal or purpose. It is energizing and satisfying, if occasionally frustrating. But we are in a context where people are bombarded with “convenience” and “consumption” as the goals, which are to be achieved by doing as little work as possible … in theory at least.

NOTE on terms re: “design for communicability”

We make compromises in “design for communicability.” Pinpoint accuracy suffers. One tries to synch up with existing memes or ideas so that an audience can “get it” quicker. 

Post-work is the dominant term. [side-note: notice the fairly recent up-tick in the figure]. Post jobs, the more accurate term, does not even register. So…. we make our choices.

The idea of Non-Workers Paradise was to create the obvious and perhaps “shocking” contrast from the historic Workers Paradise concept. The sacrifice is potentially bringing up the specter of commies. And the notion of paradise gets right to the heart of this post – paradise is perhaps over-stating . It surfaces the objection of the “laziness lie,” which we are trying to debunk. Yikes, right? But almost any choice we make sill have some kind of tradeoff. My preference or style is to anchor onto the known where possible, and deal with the accuracy issues later. But as Morpheus says, “we take our chances either way.” — Andy Hines