People Who Don't Have To Work

From each according to his ability, to each according to his need.

A forum member used to mention that quote in their posts, but never named a source nor elaborated on the meaning of it. It was a quote that Marx and Engels adopted to explain the final stage of history and end of class relations. Work would become an edifying (rather than alienating) aspect of life that utilized the creative potential of every human being. Quite Gene Roddenberry-ish, right?

If you remember your Marx, and you should, capitalism has contradictions that contain the seeds of its own destruction. At the same time it's an amazingly productive system and one that eventually created a middle class.

A working class between the wealthy and poor that did not purchase labor power is something Marx never anticipated and may be capitalism's most important saving grace. Joining the middle class gives workers an escape hatch from a life of Dickensian misery.

Still with me? Grab some coffee.

I should note that not having to work was not a concern of Marx, only an abolition of the exploitative relationship between labor and capital. You will work but you'll also love what you do.

So, here we are 130 years after's Marx's death and people who don't have to work largely fall into two categories: the destitute and wealthy. You see the destitute everywhere in major cities begging for change at gas stations and supermarkets. Unless you are wealthy yourself, you rarely see them if at all.

There is a resentment of people who are so well off to where they don't have to work. In the popular imagination of now, the meta-celebrity fills that role well. Someone who is famous for being famous. They may have a TV show, fashion line, and are the face of a brand here and there but don't possess a particular talent that you can point to.

Though you may loathe these people or others who are talented but prefer not to work, they represent an important turning point in history.

Look back a few centuries and you could probably name every person in the world who didn't have to work in a minute or less. Louis XVI, Marie Antoinette, George III, . . . blah, blah, blah, people of royal lineage. That number has increased and continues to grow, so the issue is how do we expand this benefit to more people?

It seems like a combination of technological and economic innovation that releases folks from having to crawl out of bed on Monday mornings. Think about that during your morning commute tomorrow.

 

I would argue that the celebrities still have to work.
This is different from Walton's grandchildren who don't have to do anything.

 

I contemplate this fact a lot, but the unfortunate and scary reality is that as human labor becomes cheaper and/or obsolete those with means will simply forget about those without and we devolve into chaos of epic proportions. Its really no different than those of us who live in the west how often do we think about those suffering in South America, Africa, and the rest of the third world let alone do anything to help. We indulge in our distractions and simply ignore the pain and suffering of others. We aren't even empathetic enough to care for our own neighbors instead the majority of us either ignore them or fault them for daring to be impoverished. We're in need of a serious reboot.