The History of Wage Slavery

Are you working to empower or for power?

I was 23 when I found myself on a half-broken IKEA bed with my boyfriend, discussing wage slavery and the anti-work movement. He was younger than me and also worked a lot less than I had at that point in my life, finding it difficult to maintain a job due to his strong beliefs that all work is indeed bullshit. It helped that his mom always provided a roof over his head and some food in the fridge, though often that was scarce. It also began to seem like he was getting a little too comfortable staying at my place and expecting me to pay for his food and expensive pour-over coffees when we went to coffee shops to write together.

I mention this because I think it’s a great example of the inherent tension of being a human alive in the modern world and also being someone who is inherently anti-work. Do I believe the concept of “work” under capitalism is inevitably abusive? Yes. Do I believe that “wage slavery” is real? Absolutely. Do I also not want to feel responsible for buying expensive coffees for my underemployed boyfriends? For sure.

Despite being someone who has coped with my pain, fear, and anxiety mostly through overwork and ambition and pushing myself unreasonably, after my brief foray into underemployment as an adult, I realized that I actually fair quite well, despite the…