So who does what.. and why?
By ParaTed2k
@ParaTed2k (22940)
Sheboygan, Wisconsin
May 27, 2009 8:05am CST
People say that people shouldn't have to work to live; work should be something someone does because they want to do it. If it wasn't for stupid "Money" then no one would have to accept menial work just to eat and have a roof over their heads.
Ok, so let's say we live in such a utopian society. All the basic necessities of life are furnished, so one's career is simply a matter of doing what one wants to do.
That is great when looking at the careers people would choose to do. But what about all the icky jobs that need to get done, even if no one would actually choose to do them?
How many people would drive the vacuum trucks for the port a pots? Would you?
How many of you would volunteer to dig impacted feces from an old guys butt?
How many out there would gladly take on the role as janitor?
I had to pay the bills while I was "between jobs" I wanted to do, so I took a job on an assembly line. Hot, boring, greasy, mindless work it was. The ONLY difference between me and the machines was the amount of iron in our systems. How many assembly line volunteers do we have out there?
When we are kids, we have our dreams of what we want to be "when we grow up". I'm betting most of those dreams didn't involve jobs that "hey, it pays the bills".
What about your job you have now? If all your needs were met, would you still do that job?
So, in such a utopian society, who would do the jobs nobody volunteers to do. Almost all of them would still need to be done.
If need of money wasn't the driving force, how would it be decided who gets to do what, and how HAS to do what?
2 people like this
6 responses
@ElicBxn (64169)
• United States
27 May 09
yeah, how about those "Dirty Jobs" like cleaning out septic tanks, or turning manure to fertalizer or how about raising turkeys, mucking out stalls
I mean, I love horses, but cleaning their stalls or their feet isn't one of the fun jobs.
1 person likes this
@Anora_Eldorath (6028)
• United States
28 May 09
Did you see the show called from Brown to Green? I don't see the environmentalists out there hauling timber up, or removing discarded tires. I love that he's doing that show, and it's what I was getting at on another thread. We need to remember that it is the working class doing most of these jobs, and we need to consider them where government is concerned. Far too often the working class is simply over-looked. Namaste-Anora
1 person likes this
@spalladino (17891)
• United States
27 May 09
In this weird society I would think that your career would be connected to what you have the ability to do. In other words, as highly as I think of myself, I am confident that I am not capable of being a neurosurgeon even if I decided that that's what I wanted to do. I'm just not that smart. 
So, to answer your question, since my husband and I are business owners now, yes, I would still continue to do what we do because I enjoy it. If I was still working for that b*tch at the railroad, no, I would not continue to do that job but, if we went back farther in time and I was still at the college, yes, I would continue to do that job. If money is not going to be the driving force behind the work that one does than the driving force would have to be the individual's ability to do the specific job and their desire to do it. Those with little to no abilities or desires will be the ones who will have to do the dirty jobs in the world you described.
So, to answer your question, since my husband and I are business owners now, yes, I would still continue to do what we do because I enjoy it. If I was still working for that b*tch at the railroad, no, I would not continue to do that job but, if we went back farther in time and I was still at the college, yes, I would continue to do that job. If money is not going to be the driving force behind the work that one does than the driving force would have to be the individual's ability to do the specific job and their desire to do it. Those with little to no abilities or desires will be the ones who will have to do the dirty jobs in the world you described.@ParaTed2k (22940)
• Sheboygan, Wisconsin
27 May 09
But if money isn't the driving force, why would they agree to do the dirty jobs?
@ParaTed2k (22940)
• Sheboygan, Wisconsin
27 May 09
I didn't make it up, Karl Marx made it up and people like Obama lap it up.
@spalladino (17891)
• United States
27 May 09
Hey, you're the one who made up this fantasyland. If you're not expected to do *something* then what's to stop everyone from sitting on their butts all day doing nothing?
@Taskr36 (13963)
• United States
27 May 09
Every creature must work to live. Why should humans be any different. I actually knew a guy who drove one of those vacuum trucks. He hated his job so much that he tried to quit repeatedly. Every time he tried his boss gave him a raise to keep him. He stayed with it because the benefits were just too good and no other job would pay him that well. His boss would never let him go because it was so difficult and expensive to find and train someone else to do that job while risking that the replacement would quit after 2 weeks.
To answer your question, yes, I would still do the job I have now albeit in another city since I'm only in Miami for the job.
In a utopia, nobody would have to do those unpleasant jobs unless they wanted to. We'd have robots doing them. People who liked working on robots would be responsible for programming and repairing them.
Seriously though, you could never reach that utopian point without individual motivation for workers, specifically, money and benefits. There may come a day when we get there, but it's still a long ways away and we need to live in the now.
@ParaTed2k (22940)
• Sheboygan, Wisconsin
27 May 09
Capitalism bases it on money and benefits. The other systems base it on force by government or other central power.
@arkansos (545)
• India
28 May 09
Well you're right about that. No one'd do the dirty jobs. Infact, when people say a concept of no money would be fine, they don't really understand what they bargain for. If there were no money, and anyone could have what they wanted...well picture this...
"Suppose you grew vegetables in your farm and your neighbour every morning barged in and took what he/she wanted, how'd you feel? Ofcourse you won't allow it. You'd say give me something I want and you can have some veggiess.... " That'd be the barter system.Sounds cool...no money but here's the little problem
"You now want some cabbage from your neighbour and you have potatoes and tomatoes etc in your garden You go to him, he says'I don't want potatoes/tomatoes, I want some ladyfingers. you don't have ladyfingers, you don't get cabbage. " So if you had money, you could sell your potatoes to someone who wants them in exchange for money and give that money to your neighbour for some cabbage and he could use it for whatever he wants. Do you get my point? Money is a convinience rather than being a means for profiling
@Rollo1 (16676)
• Boston, Massachusetts
27 May 09
Money is not the reason people need to do things they don't want to do. Money is simply the means of getting those basic necessities in a complex society. In a less complex society, you wouldn't go to a job, you would work to get those needs met. Survival requires that you perform some sort of work to provide your basic needs and those of your children until they are old enough to provide for themselves, even if it is hunting or farming to get those necessities. In this modern society, different things are produced by different people and you need money to persuade them to let you have some of it.
I have worked both the nasty, dirty, physical jobs and the clean, air-conditioned office jobs and each has their advantages and disadvantages. But the only job I would still do if I didn't need any money would be the jobs I do online. I do those for the enjoyment, because obviously they are not going to make me rich.
I don't think they believe that all their needs can be supplied without anyone doing anything ever. I think they just don't want to do anything.
@ParaTed2k (22940)
• Sheboygan, Wisconsin
27 May 09
Yup, the bottom line is, in societies where money isn't the driving force, there are plenty of people to do the jobs people enjoy, but the only way to get people to do the yucky jobs is by force.
@aikhong (661)
• Malaysia
28 May 09
Oh this will be a hard question to answer,haha. I really can't imagine what will happen if our society goes so well and that everyone is already well to do and we can choose what career or what we want to do. I guess there will be some people who will choose not to work for others, or want to do their own business.
Ya, who will do those cleaning jobs such as cleaning the roadside, take the rubbish and so on. Perhaps there'll be minority of people who are willing to volunteer to do this, i guess.
For me, i'll proceed with my aim in life and do the job i enjoy the most. I want to become a teacher, to educate our future generation. With this, i feel that i'm contributing better to the society.
