by There is no magic wand.
There is no switch to flip.
It’s more than a few policy tweaks.
It’s more than good intentions.
It will take hard work.
It will take a long time.
We gotta make it happen, not wait for it.
… and so on.
I saw a video recently that portrayed the post-work future as a paradise. It more-or-less defined paradise as complete freedom, leisure, ease, and not a care in the world. Well, not exactly! I use Non-Workers Paradise as the title for my image of a post-work future. But I don’t imagine it as easy and carefree. The post-work future will take a lot of work, just not in the form of full-time jobs that are vital to one’s survival. That does not mean that there is not work to do, or activities that need to be undertaken.
I think that video does capture what pops into many people’s heads when I and others talk about post-work. They think leisure. This might be followed a concern about “what will we do?” And then the concern about the “lazy” people freeloading. I hope my After Capitalism work, and all the related work going on in this area, can create a different images and thoughts as we slowly moving toward a post-work future over the next two (or three) decades. Right now, we need to confront easy, lazy, carefree and leisure fantasy. Part of the answer, I think, is reconsidering paradise as doing nothing, but re-conceiving it along the lines of having the freedom to do what makes you happy and/or contributes to the collective good.
The task at hand is to bring more granularity and detail to what a post-work future looks like and what the road to getting there looks like. Yes, it may be hard work, but it can be good, interesting, and fulfilling work, too! – Andy Hines
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