The Most Evil Lie

“The idea that work – that is, doing things that you otherwise wouldn’t do in exchange for money or resources – is intrinsically and morally good is possibly the greatest, most successful, most evil lie ever fashioned by our culture. It is so deeply and fundamentally embedded in the foundations of society that we can’t see it and can’t imagine a world without it. Let me say this: if you ever reach a point in your life where your needs are met, you have some measure of safety, and you have enough extra time and resources to pursue something that you love, for God’s sake stop there. It doesn’t get better after that! It gets more complicated, more presigious, etc, but not better. In fact, if you can get all of those things while working only part time then more power to you! Free up some hours for somebody who needs ’em! It’s great to have fulfilling work, it’s great to have things to do that you love that you think are important and worthwhile. But don’t do more of them than you want to just because you feel like you’re expected to. No good comes of that.”

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