This Week In Sunday Letters
Content For Weekending 12th May 2024
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Working Less
By
Many people spend most of their time working. The idea that ‘everybody has to work’ is deeply entrenched in our mindset. Idleness is condemned, and people who do not work are looked upon with contempt. But while I agree that some work should be done, I think we do not have to work as much as we do now.
We had a conversation last week (here) in which we discussed types of jobs that are meaningless; they don’t produce anything of value to society; these jobs could never have existed, and nobody would even notice the difference. But even if people work in productive occupations, they seem to produce too much, far beyond our needs. Moreover, as Bertrand Russell (1932/2020) notes: “...we produce hosts of things that are not wanted” (p. 21). Well, we do not want this 'host of things’ until we are convinced, through an advertisement, for example, that we need them.
It is hard to see any changes possible as long as our economic system operates on the principle of accumulation of wealth. However, if there is a slight chance, we can propose another way of living. If we agree that most jobs are useless, and people get their money for doing little (if any) of value for society and that some jobs produce things we do not need, there could be, I think, at least two possible solutions. First, redistribution of work, and second, implementation of Universal (or unconditional) Basic Income (these two solutions are not mutually exclusive).
In his essay ‘In Praise of Idleness’ (1932/2020)1, Bertrand Russell argues that our technological advancements made it possible to reduce the amount of labour required to produce the necessities of life for everyone. He gives an example:
This was made obvious during the war. At that time all the men in the armed forces, and all the men and women engaged in the production of munitions, all the men and women engaged in spying, war propaganda, or Government offices connected with the war, were withdrawn from productive occupations. In spite of this, the general level of well-being among unskilled wage-earners on the side of the Allies was higher than before or since (p. 15).
The idea is that if we withdraw many people from the ‘productive occupations’, we will still manage to provide ourselves with necessities in our daily lives. However, if we do not withdraw them, as Russell suggests, we could redistribute time spent on a job so that every single person does not have to work, let's say, eight hours a day, but instead four or less. We now have a lot of people who are ‘withdrawn’ from productive occupations – an unemployed population. Add to that people who are employed in ‘bullshit jobs’ and the time spent working can be reduced, perhaps, to one day a week.
Another question is, however, to what extent what we produce we actually need. Perhaps, if we eradicate unnecessary production, the working hours would also shrink. I realise that it may be difficult to say what exactly is ‘unnecessary’ and what people really need (our needs vary). After all, human beings are curious and strive for novelty. However, some of our needs may as well be manufactured. Advertisement is an excellent example of this. Another example is social status: we want to be deemed worthy, we want to be seen as ‘successful’, and this drives us to buy things that, I would argue, are pretty much unnecessary for one’s life (Note that the image of ‘successful individual’ is also advertised).
The other solution is UBI (universal basic income) – “an unconditional allowance, sufficient to live on, paid in cash to every citizen regardless of income” (Rowett, 2022, p.81)2. It is entirely different from any social welfare scheme in that “it is paid (1) irrespective of who one lives with, (2) irrespective of how much income one earns, and (3) irrespective of whether one is willing to work” (Van Parjis, 2013, p. 174)3. UBI was considered a utopia for quite some time but recently started to gain traction. As technology makes many forms of human labour obsolete and threatens mass unemployment, UBI seems to be an appealing solution.
Imagine that everybody gets the same amount of money regularly so that they can cover their basic needs. They will be free to decide whether to work or not. Those who now work in jobs they do not like could leave them without being afraid that they have nothing to live on. Anybody with an ambition to become an entrepreneur will be able to do so, as there will be no risk of ending up broke if their business does not succeed. Students will not have to look for a job to cover their tuition fees but instead focus on their education. Artists will have time to engage in creativity with no fear of not having enough money for a living.
Overall, UBI will help to improve mental health and promote happiness. It would allow those employed in meaningless jobs, suffering in many cases from depression, to leave it. The work itself will be optional. We will finally have more leisure time. It does not mean we will spend it at home binge-watching the Netflix series. As Bertrand Russell suggests:
Since men will not be tired in their spare time, they will not demand only such amusements as are passive and vapid. At least one per cent will probably devote the time not spent in professional work to pursuits of some public importance, and, since they will not depend upon these pursuits for their livelihood, their originality will be unhampered, and there will be no need to conform to the standards set by elderly pundits. But it is not only in these exceptional cases that the advantages of leisure will appear. Ordinary men and women, having the opportunity of a happy life, will become more kindly and less persecuting and less inclined to view others with suspicion. The taste for war will die out, partly for this reason, and partly because it will involve long and severe work for all. Good nature is, of all moral qualities, the one that the world needs most, and good nature is the result of ease and security, not of a life of arduous struggle. Modern methods of production have given us the possibility of ease and security for all; we have chosen, instead, to have overwork for some and starvation for others. Hitherto we have continued to be as energetic as we were before there were machines; in this we have been foolish, but there is no reason to go on being foolish forever (p. 28-29).
I think Russell is correct. Having more leisure time, we will give our talents and creativity to the public good, and we do it without anybody telling us to do so. Our ‘good nature’ will manifest itself when there is no daily struggle.
To summarise, it seems that we live in a time when spending most of the week at work, or doing the ‘bullshit job’, is no longer necessary. Redistribution of ‘useful’ work that produces the necessaries of life between those unemployed and those employed in ‘bullshit jobs’ could drastically minimise the number of working hours and days. The other way is to implement UBI. Both solutions will give people more free time and financial stability to live their lives how they like and meaningfully contribute to our society.
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References
Russell, B., 2020. In praise of idleness: And other essays. Routledge.
Rowett, C., 2022. Philosophical reflections on the idea of a universal basic income. Royal Institute of Philosophy Supplements, 91, pp.81-102.
Van Parijs, P., 2013. The universal basic income: Why utopian thinking matters, and how sociologists can contribute to it. Politics & Society, 41(2), pp.171-182.