this post was submitted on 19 Sep 2023
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Work Reform

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[–] Smoltech@lemmyunchained.net 6 points 1 year ago (1 children)

We're destroying the world through overproduction and over consumption.

I see a future where people can work less, instead of an attempt to keep people working full time.

That would be smaller, with less waste at the top.

[–] BeautifulMind@lemmy.world 3 points 1 year ago (1 children)

I like where you're going with that!

I think the problems (of high inequality, of unsustainable resource use) are distinct, but related and can probably be gone after by targeting the same things: price gouging and suppressing wages.

If capital can't do those things, labor will have the choice to work less if it doesn't need the money to survive. We've long-since passed the point Keynes predicted (at which, productivity would be high enough to support people at a high standard of living without them working full time) in terms of production, the obstacle to that happening is that capital gets to allocate those surpluses and it keeps most of them

[–] Smoltech@lemmyunchained.net 2 points 1 year ago

I've spent my career in the tech industry, specifically around open source software.

Corporate powers helped fund the work of individuals for their own purposes, but I can ways we can use them to rebuild local economies instead.

We just need to change how we're using the tools. This can be done by existing skilled workers who are willing to make new choices around who to work for, or by motivated new engineers who have access to the free tools and free training material.