Why you don't want a job

r ranson wrote:

"If your job/skill would be automated out of existence what would you do instead?"

From my point of view, it's a funny sort of a question because I don't see how it's relevant.  Everything I do already has an automated replacement available.  A more interesting question to me is "why do people still want human-made products and services when automated alternatives are readily available?"

r ranson wrote:
Because I don't spend much, I don't need to work much.  I have a part time casual job which I love.  If I didn't love it, I wouldn't work it.  

I have a cottage industry which I enjoy-ish.  I enjoy making things, but I dislike the selling part, so I usually sell on commission.  Because of this, I make less per hour at being self-employed than I do in wage work.  

I have a farm where I grow things.  I sell these when I have extra, but I'm more interested in research and developing varieties and methods that work well locally without excessive inputs like irrigation.  Again, I hate selling, so I tend to get a lower price for my produce than others do.  

The point is, I don't have to have a job.  But I love it.  It's possible to have a fun job and live well working only a few hours every few weeks.  

Dale Hodgins wrote:I don't want anything that many people would call a job, but I do want work that gives me money. So, I sell my service and I usually have more than one way to pay myself. I receive the amount that I charge each day, plus I get to sell all sorts of building components that are residual to what I do.
......
I really enjoy that treasure hunt portion of my job. The first thing I do after getting the rights to a new house is run around to every crevice to see what people have left for me. Mostly junk, but also lots of neat tools, artifacts of dubious quality and sometimes highly saleable furniture and other things. If you do that at any sort of regular job , you get locked up.
........

If I ever get to tear down your workplace, I'm going to do exactly that, and if you leave anything behind, I'm going to rummage through your desk. I'm wearing really nice dress shoes at a jacket that I found in a closet, in one of the houses... regular jobs just don't accommodate that type of behaviour. ☺

Bryant RedHawk wrote:hau Eric, I would have to answer your question this way: The nature of the human mind is such that one needs a feeling of selfworth in order to feel complete. This can be seen in the current homeless situations all across the USA, once a person has been homeless for 5 years, there is not a lot of hope for them to get back to being a productive person in the current society. They tend to remain in their homeless state, because their feelings of selfworth have, for the most part, disappeared, they become comfortable in being homeless and so remain in that state.

I don't think you need to be homeless to lose your enthusiasm for 9-5 work, but going a few years without a regular job and still being alive tends to show you that there is another way to live. When I was in my teens, I saw my older siblings get pulled into the workforce and I felt sorry for them. Within weeks, their job defined them and, to some extent, ruled them. I swore to my next oldest brother that I was never going to fall for it but I did when I was 18. The next 32 years were a blur until I found a way out. Now, I've been unemployed for a dozen years and living off the dwindling remnants of my working and business life while I try to establish our off grid, low cost life. I feel like I have more self-worth today, with no income, than I did when the cheques were rolling in.

Alana Rose wrote:

r ranson wrote:

"If your job/skill would be automated out of existence what would you do instead?"

From my point of view, it's a funny sort of a question because I don't see how it's relevant.  Everything I do already has an automated replacement available.  A more interesting question to me is "why do people still want human-made products and services when automated alternatives are readily available?"

Thanks for sharing this. It is quite fascinating. Do you have a thread where you describe your story of how you provide for yourself through these ways,

John F Dean wrote:I suppose much is definitional.  I have only worked a total of 18 months in my life.  Most of the time I have had fun.

craig howard wrote:
The two-factor theory

The point was that labor produces very little.
For instance sewing by hand produces less
than could/would be produced using a sewing machine,... most of the time right?

Before with the hand sewing you were just making  a wage for your labor.
Now you get your wage and
a wage of the machine.

Be it a loom or tractor that helps you produce more.
If they own the machine it's a job.
If you own the machine it's work.
 I make most of my money fixing cars.
Old VW diesels. It's not a job that would be easy to automate.
I have invested in tools and machines that help me produce more.