this post was submitted on 10 Sep 2023
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I often daydream about how society would be if we were not forced by society to pigeon hole ourselves into a specialized career for maximizing the profits of capitalists, and sell most of our time for it.

The idea of creating an entire identity for you around your "career" and only specializing in one thing would be ridiculous in another universe. Humans have so much natural potential for breadth, but that is just not compatible with capitalism.

This is evident with how most people develop "hobbies" outside of work, like wood working, gardening, electronics, music, etc. This idea of separating "hobbies" and the thing we do most of our lives (work) is ridiculous.

Here's how my world could be different if I owned my time and dedicated it to the benefit of my own and my community instead of capitalists:

  • more reading, learning and excusing knowledge with others.
  • learn more handy work, like plumbing and wood working. I love customizing my own home!
  • more gardening
  • participate in the transportation system (picking up shifts to drive a bus for example)
  • become a tour guide for my city
  • cook and bake for my neighbors
  • academic research
  • open source software (and non-software) contributions
  • pick up shifts at a cafรฉ and make coffee, tea and smoothies for people
  • pick up shifts to clean up public spaces, such as parks or my own neighborhood
  • participate in more than one "professions". I studied one type of engineering but work in a completely different engineering. This already proves I can do both, so why not do both and others?

Humans do not like the same thing over and over every day. It's unnatural. But somehow we revolve our whole livelihood around if.

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[โ€“] [email protected] 3 points 1 year ago

I'd play music for my community. It's alright by myself but I love an audience.

Get involved in whatever community food garden is around.

Make art. Give it away.

[โ€“] [email protected] 3 points 1 year ago

If I could start from scratch, maybe something. In my current condition I would probably just feel unproductive and guilty every day, with no personal direction of my own.

[โ€“] [email protected] 3 points 1 year ago (2 children)

Without capitalism, I'd probably be serf like my great-grandparents were. There's a lot to criticize about capitalism, but it's still an improvement on its predecessor.

[โ€“] [email protected] 2 points 1 year ago* (last edited 1 year ago) (2 children)

For a lot of people, it probably still doesn't feel dissimilar enough from serfdom, just with a lot more parties to be indebted/obligated to than your one feudal lord. Still at risk of becoming a landless vagrant if you don't keep up with your dues.

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[โ€“] [email protected] 3 points 1 year ago

What would you when you get in this undefined yet not capitalist utopia and are forced to work long hours at a job you didn't choose to help further the cause of the revolution?

[โ€“] [email protected] 3 points 1 year ago

I would write and draw more. There's so many stories I wanna make. I might even take up some other medium like animation or something physical like sculpture or architecture. It would be fun to design spaces that don't need to have the soul sucked out of them to appear "mature" or "professional"

I feel like the fear of not making profits and not surviving pressures me into watering down everything I do so it's appealing to someone else. That's why art is strictly a hobby for me and not a career I wanna pursue

[โ€“] [email protected] 3 points 1 year ago

Rock climbing. I got into over summer but I only have time to go once or twice a week at most. And that's just indoors. A whole outdoor trip would take way too much of my time, time that I don't have.

[โ€“] [email protected] 2 points 1 year ago

It'd give me more time to learn languages. I want to learn most Romance languages then later some Germanic languages. I'd have more time to read, study, and learn from the "For Dummies" series books I bought.

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