Current Events > 'Anti-work' threads on Reddit are fueling the Great Resignation

(+) Yeah! (+)

https://nypost.com/2022/01/17/anti-work-threads-on-reddit-fueling-the-great-resignation/

On Reddit, the antiwork subreddit is now one of the social networks most active and engaged pages, after seeing explosive growth during the COVID-19 pandemic. It currently has more than 1.6 million users, up from 180,000 in October 2020. People post epic text and e-mail screenshots of quitting their jobs, but the real heroes are so-called idlers those who stay in jobs doing the absolute minimum to get by while still collecting a paycheck. Everyone has hit their limit with COVID, overwork, their mortgages, rent payments and so many things with capitalism. Theres nothing wrong with wanting to take a break from that and do less of it, said Doreen Ford, the pages moderator. A 30-year-old living in Boston, Ford once held a job in retail, but for the past five years, shes been self-employed as a dog walker, working about 25 hours a week. She noted that the general idea behind the anti-work movement is to reduce the coercive element of labor as much as possible by subverting capitalism, and said that those active on the page are mainly far leftists who support Bernie Sanders and AOC, and, often also identify as socialists, communists and/or anarchists.

Some fear anti-workers could have far-reaching consequences for the economy. The Financial Times recently reported that Goldman Sachs was fretting that the movement posed a long-run risk to labor force participation. It comes at a time where a record number of workers are quitting, a phenomenon thats been dubbed the Great Resignation. In November, 4.5 million Americans voluntarily left their jobs, the Bureau of Labor Statistics reported. But those numbers tell only part of the story, said Rutgers professor Todd Vachon, director of the schools Labor Education Action Research Network. Were not only seeing the mass resignation, but at the same time a wave of strike activity and new organizing activity among workers that have remained in their jobs, Vachon told The Post. The two are interconnected. A shortage of workers willing to take low-wage jobs empowers those in those jobs to take bold actions to improve them with less fear of being fired or replaced. The anti-work subreddit shows people doing just that. One user, a technician of some sort who goes by the name willcalliv, posted screenshots of a demanding email sent to their boss. They noted that their skills are high in demand this year and asked for a 6.8 percent raise, a work week of no more than 45 hours, a company phone and a new car with a working air conditioner all in the name of personal growth.

This was also a post over there: https://twitter.com/embeeonhere/status/1481066931968954370

Thankfully so.

The country cannot survive without workers. They are leading us down a dark path.

Lol good for them

the anti-work camp is about to become neoliberal capital's latest scapegoat for macroeconomic malaise

just wait and see

Good on them

Duncanwii posted...

The country cannot survive without workers. They are leading us down a dark path.

How are you going to make this post when you've never held a job in your life

Nice idk what their endgame is but i hope they succeed

the second part of that reddit post though:
https://twitter.com/GiantSpaceAss/status/1481279791076544512

Duncanwii posted...

The country cannot survive without workers.

Sounds like companies better pay the workers a living wage then!

CommonStar posted...

the second part of that reddit post though:
https://twitter.com/GiantSpaceAss/status/1481279791076544512

Lol that is awesome

Duncanwii posted...

The country cannot survive without workers. They are leading us down a dark path.

So why don't you go to work?

Pepys Monster posted...

So why don't you go to work?

I have legit medical reasons for not having a job. The people on Reddit are just annoyed they arent getting the amount of money they want.

Eh. Personally I feel like I can't get a job I want to do, and I'm not motivated to take on additional responsibility unless I'm satisfied with my role.

There is just this gap that no one seems to find weird but I do, namely the ratio of people making 20k yearly to 40k, for example. Such problems should be solved but won't be. No one wants a McDonald's worker to make 45k but they still rake in massive profit. Compared to a tech company which is a smol bean compared to McDonald's, paying software engineers 300k.

Healthcare workers be like "guess I'll keep paying for other people's bad choices"

Duncanwii posted...

I have legit medical reasons for not having a job. The people on Reddit are just annoyed they arent getting the amount of money they want.

I don't know the details of your medical reasons, but I'm a disabled veteran and I still go to work. I have to to pay the bills.

Smh all these people who are able to not work and still live well...

but the real heroes are so-called idlers those who stay in jobs doing the absolute minimum to get by while still collecting a paycheck.

heh. sounds like me.

I could ask for more work, but I know what it's going to be so I don't do it: other people's backlogs; nothing really new.

r/Antiwork is the new right wing antifa. Just a boogeyman they can use as a rallying cry to continue to trick the poor rural Americans into being corporate shills.

A bunch of people posting fake stories then circle jerking each other on an internet forum isn't going to accomplish a whole lot.

Axiom posted...

Good on them

How are you going to make this post when you've never held a job in your life

Lmao

Dakimakura posted...

A bunch of people posting fake stories then circle jerking each other on an internet forum isn't going to accomplish a whole lot.

https://gamefaqs.gamespot.com/a/user_image/4/4/3/AAZn3xAAC0hz.jpg

this would be more believable than a lot of the stories posted there.

Is there ANY solution to overwork?

MedeaLysistrata posted...

Is there ANY solution to overwork?

Yeah, but thanks to 80s and 90s movies there is an entire generation afraid of embracing technology because they are afraid robots will take over the world and make humans their slaves.

Duncanwii posted...

I have legit medical reasons for not having a job. The people on Reddit are just annoyed they arent getting the amount of money they want.

then the employers better start paying them that amount!

averagejoel posted...

then the employers better start paying them that amount!

No. The employees dont get to tell their employers how things are run in their own store.

MedeaLysistrata posted...

Is there ANY solution to overwork?

organizing on the part of the workers

Duncanwii posted...

No. The employees dont get to tell their employers how things are run in their own store.

ultimately, yes they do. and they should. the workers outnumber the bosses

I do enjoy the new antiwork with their outlandish stories/emails/text exchanges.

Duncanwii posted...

And given enough time children will outnumber the parents that doesnt mean they get to eat ice cream for dinner.

Every post youve made in this topic is dumber than the last, but comparing employees who need money to fucking keep a roof over their head with children trying to eat ice cream for dinner is the absolute dumbest post Ive ever read on this site, even for you.

Duncanwii posted...

And given enough time children will outnumber the parents that doesnt mean they get to eat ice cream for dinner.

This sounds like a failed coop attempt in the Duncan household

MedeaLysistrata posted...

Is there ANY solution to overwork?

Sure. And a "great resignation" is one of them. Honestly I don't buy the hype that the uber right wing newspaper is trying to drum up. I think they are just looking to give more people on the right things to bitch about.

But people quitting their super demanding low paying jobs for "easier" higher paying jobs does this.

I worked with a bunch of people at a health insurance company a few years ago. Some of them recently quit to take "easier" jobs like as a cashier at our local chain of gas stations because the gas station pays 16 bucks an hour.

Duncanwii posted...

No. The employees dont get to tell their employers how things are run in their own store.

This person is eligible to vote

UghWhoCares posted...

Every post youve made in this topic is dumber than the last, but comparing employees who need money to fucking keep a roof over their head with children trying to eat ice cream for dinner is the absolute dumbest post Ive ever read on this site, even for you.

Yeah I admit that was going too far. I deleted it.

Hey Duncan.

Why should the person making your Subway sandwich not make a living wage?

Dakimakura posted...

r/Antiwork is the new right wing antifa. Just a boogeyman they can use as a rallying cry to continue to trick the poor rural Americans into being corporate shills.

A bunch of people posting fake stories then circle jerking each other on an internet forum isn't going to accomplish a whole lot.

They organized to stop Kellog's from hiring scabs while workers were striking

Dakimakura posted...

This sounds like a failed coop attempt in the Duncan household

lol

i believe that children are the future
teach them well and let them have ice cream for dinner

Umbreon posted...

Hey Duncan.

Why should the person making your Subway sandwich not make a living wage?

Because low level food service like burger flipping is intended to be a stepping stone job you get as a teenager to get experience. Then you can graduate to a real paying job.

Duncanwii posted...

Because low level food service like burger flipping is intended to be a stepping stone job you get as a teenager to get experience. Then you can graduate to a real paying job.

Go flip burgers then. Or better yet, just shut the fuck up because you have no idea how the real world works.

Of course the usual suspects are supporting that fake movement

Duncanwii posted...

Because low level food service like burger flipping is intended to be a stepping stone job you get as a teenager

So you believe none of these jobs should be open during school hours. Or late on school nights?

By the way, these jobs are struggling to maintain employees because no one wants to work for a 'stepping stone' job and wants an actual living wage.

But in the end, the most important thing is that you've established that you believe certain people don't deserve to have a living wage.

While you yourself will be taken care of by someone else's hard work.

For those of you who don't know, r/antiwork has admitted to accepting tall tales or creative writing material so long as it falls in line with their message.

https://imgur.com/s2hJEXY

I guess a lot of people didn't learn anything from the Jussie Smollet incident. Fake stories hurt progression but I'm sure a lot of you don't care.

Veggeta_MAX posted...

For those of you who don't know, r/antiwork has admitted to accepting tall tales or creative writing material so long as it falls in line with their message.

https://imgur.com/s2hJEXY

I guess a lot of people didn't learn anything from the Jussie Smollet incident. Fake stories hurt progression but I'm sure a lot of you don't care.

Is AbolishWork the official spokesperson of r/antiwork? What subreddit did this exchange occur on? Because the person advocating spreading fake stories is getting shot down by everyone.

No they aren't

A large amount of these resignations are from older workers who I doubt even know what a reddit is

This is NY Post drivel as usual

EzeDoesIt posted...

Is AbolishWork the official spokesperson of r/antiwork?

One of the standing mods there

EzeDoesIt posted...

What subreddit did this exchange occur on?

What do you think? r/antiwork of course. LMAO.

EzeDoesIt posted...

Because the person advocating spreading fake stories is getting shot down by everyone.

There are tons of people like me who are starting to turn on that shitty place BECAUSE of the bullshit fake stories and the encouragement of them. That mod might have people having calling them out on it but there are more people who don't care or even endorses the policy of fake stories. Hard pillow to swallow I know.

Veggeta_MAX posted...

For those of you who don't know, r/antiwork has admitted to accepting tall tales or creative writing material so long as it falls in line with their message.

https://imgur.com/s2hJEXY

I guess a lot of people didn't learn anything from the Jussie Smollet incident. Fake stories hurt progression but I'm sure a lot of you don't care.

this sounds like a criticism of the internet as a whole; not just of r/antiwork

Its starting to become more than a workers rights movement I think, its definitely has become politicized and empowering a huge voter base. Young vs old (dying) is going to talked about a lot in 2024 election