But, here I am, and now I have to work. I've always thought that work should be for people that want luxuries in life, and by luxuries I mean whatever is not necessary to survive, including books, internet services, and all those things I like. So the government would pay people a monthly allowance to cover for basic expenses like rent and food and utilities. What that would mean is that people that don't care about being a consumer (like me) would basically live for free. IF I wanted a book, I'd work one day and then go to the bookstore and buy it with my one-day salary. So on and so forth.
Except that it's not for free. Food doesn't transport itself to your house, which doesn't build and heat itself. If you don't carry your weight, someone else has to.
What I think is terribly unfair is that I was brought into existence on this wicked planet and now I have to pay for my living! As if I had chosen to live! At the very least, people should only be allowed to have children if they had enough money to cover for the basic expenses for the child's entire life.
There's an element of that which I'd agree to - we do have an issue, in the transient conditions of employment and health, whereby people who can afford to have children and then find themselves in a situation where they can no longer afford them for reasons beyond their direct control. I see a need for a safety net, but the blanket application of child allowances (for instance) isn't something I agree with.
Why do we consent to live this way, having this huge chunk (more than half) of our conscious life filled with such drudgery?
Who says that we do? Average lifespan is around 85 these days, you start work at around 20 and finish - on average - around 63 - that's barely half the years you're alive, and you're not working for all of the time.
Not, of course, that work has to be a drudgery - how you approach your work determines how you feel about it. If you truly aren't enjoying your work, change what you do.
And how do they make more money? Either switch to a higher-paying life-wasting job (but first you have to waste some time getting some meaningless degree) or just work more, have two jobs, and basically waste more of your living time.
If the degree leads to a more enjoyable - or better paying, if that's your thing - job, how is it meaningless? It doesn't matter what other people think of your degree if it achieves what you want it to - of course, if you just love to learn then it's its own reward.
O.
