Laurie Raymond
Aug 8, 2017 · 1 min read

The premises here fit well with the idea of UBI (universal basic income) proposals which relieve humans from the obligation of equating work with jobs. Jobs, and the measure of human worthiness by the number of hours one works at one (or several), destroy our capacity for work that is not paid in the typical way, and judges productivity in terms of volume of output and market value. We reward people for driving vast distances seeking a job; for commuting obscenely long distances to “work,” for putting in long hours in a plant devoted to making disgusting synthetic food, ersatz materials and consumer goods, and we consider it a sign of a healthy economy when people spend the majority of their waking hours going to, returning from or participating in the making, transporting, advertising and selling multiple brands of products no one needs, which are bad for those who consume them and pollute as their component parts are extracted, as they are made, and as they and their packaging wastes are discarded. Considering work worthy of respect for its inherent usefulness, beauty and longevity just makes sense, and fits in well with all the movements for regenerating the world we have been plundering.

    Laurie Raymond

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