With that said, for a long time something has felt off to me about Black's essay. I have reflected on the matter for years, and have come to the conclusion that the concern is that I don't use the word "work" in the way Black does, which is after all, a rather large issue with the essay, considering the title itself.
I think the difference in meaning comes from the domains in which Black and I do our thinking and thus our writing. Black is talking in the domain of political philosophy, whereas I am concerned about living a good, private life. In doing so, I think a lot about art, and find the process of creation to be one of the most important answers to questions of meaning and fulfillment. Black's use of "work" is semantically close to "worker" and the phrase "worker's of the world unite." My use of "work" is closer to "work of art," and the phrase "the collected works of Shakespeare."
When I have leisure time, as well as, crucially, a minimum effective dose of real human contact, I feel driven to create. And though I have found that there is a time and place aimless creation, such as making a painting by just slopping color, what I really want is something that forces judgement, refinement, and, yes, some effort. I have to agree with Aaron Swartz when he wrote:
Hard work isn’t supposed to be pleasant, we’re told. But in fact it’s probably the most enjoyable thing I do. Not only does a tough problem completely absorb you while you’re trying to solve it, but afterwards you feel wonderful having accomplished something so serious.I don't think this kind of work has to be assigned by someone else, and in my experience it usually isn't. After all, the authoritarian mindset will push a leader to find some way to break the flow or otherwise hamper the task, but the fact remains that I really love to work and I even work hard to find ways to find meaningful work.
If his essay is anything to go on, Black would probably counter that I am describing a love for a particular kind of play. Perhaps, and I wouldn't quibble too much with someone who wanted to maintain that position, but I think that "work" is the best word for what I often want to do because the labor and effort I put in shows up on some level and adds immensely to the charm of a piece.
Thus, I propose that instead of talking about abolishing work, we can use the word "job." Instead of thinking bad things about, and occasionally writing pieces criticizing the work system, I conceptualize it as the job system. This also tracks closely with how the ideology in question functions; if you do a lot of hard work on your own, but it isn't for a business, it usually doesn't count in other peoples' minds. "What do you do?" is a question to figure out your job, and thus figure out your role and what status should go with that in the questioner's eyes. Almost no one wants to hear what you are working on, especially now that so few people do any work of real value.
What do I do? I report to bullshit for billable hours. I try to live below the means of those credits from billable hours and invest the proceeds, hoping to give my life more slack so those I can take care of those I am responsible for while still being a righteous dude.
Oh, what do I do for purpose? I think, I read, and I create art, trying to work at it as hard as I can considering all the bullshit I have to deal with.
