Anti work? or work reform?

 So....doreengate has spiraled out of control and now there is a schism in the anti work movement. As r/antiwork goes private due to brigading and massive backlash against mods leading to tons of bans, the moderators of r/antiwork made the sub go private. In the process, there seems to be a mass exodus to an alternative sub called r/workreform. 

r/workreform seems to be a much more mild subreddit, for the kind of person who is appalled someone like Doreen dare exists, much less represent the anti work movement. A lot of the more moderate posters on that sub are now like....wait wait wait, we're not REALLY anti work. The owner of the sub literally wants to abolish work and only works 20 hours a week? Here I am busting my butt full time and I just want fair treatment!

It's like they didn't understand what the sub was about. 

These schisms have existed within the anti work movement for a while. We had a hardcore leftist following that was actually anti work, and then a bunch of more moderate bandwagoners who just wanted to be treated better at work, not necessarily opposed to the concept. 

So...am I anti work, or for "work reform"? If you read this blog for a while, it should be quite clear I'm ANTI WORK. I dont just want mild reform. I don't just want better treatment around the edges, more human corporate overlords, I want to be FREE from the TYRANNY of work. I'm with Doreen. Even 20 hours is too much, and seeing the work reform people gatekeep people like her for not working full time seems to miss the point of the sub. 

That said, I tried going on workreform, and I dont fit in. Because like Doreen, I actually AM anti work.

HOWEVER, I want to make something clear. I'm NOT in the same tradition of thought as Doreen or the rest of the mod team there. Most of that sub is full on leftist, or more specifically anarchist. They oppose the state, they oppose the workplace, they oppose all hierarchies. I am, begrudgingly, a believer in the state, and of "capitalism." I'm not really enthusiastic about either. The state is just about keeping us safe, and organizing society as to provide for peoples' needs better. My ideas explicitly call for a state to implement. And, I'm somewhat for capitalism. While I'm not opposed to market socialism, I dont care either way. I am a supporter of markets, i'm lukewarm on "socialism" at best, and hostile to it at worst (in its more extreme forms). And honestly, I believe that anti work isn't a matter of "left or right", but "forward", to use a Scott Santens quote. 

Really. You can be capitalist and be for anti work goals, much to the dismay of the hardcore gatekeeping "leftists" of that subreddit, and you can be for leftism and be anti work. Likewise, you can be both capitalist or leftist, and merely be about reforming the institution. I would actually argue most leftists are essentially PRO work, and ultimately in the "reform" camp. Look at any communist country ever. They were for full employment. And worked long work weeks. They didn't abolish work. They actually believed people had a DUTY to work, and would enforce that by force.

I don't.I just believe people should have a right to say no, not just to any job, but all jobs. And that we should give everyone a UBI and other basic needs at a level to lead a dignified life and leave people to decide whether they wanna work for more. If they do, let them. if they don't, they don't have to. And over time, we could probably abolish a lot of work. This does not call for abolishing capitalism. If anything I think capitalism, with the proper safeguards in place, would probably be less coercive than any form of leftism or socialism. By providing for people a basic income, we could give them real freedom, or the right to say no, whether you prefer the van parijs or widerquist framing of the issue, and ensure people can meet their basic needs without being coerced to work.

We can also, instead of pursuing a policy of full employment, pursue one that explicitly limits our needs for work. Which could inevitably lead to fewer people working, and/or people working fewer hours. 

Again, my only real limitation of how far we can go with this is the practicality of it. As it stands we need SOME people to work. While this number should decrease over time, we need to slow the car down before we stop it. otherwise it's like hitting a brick wall and turning into windshield pizza. 

But yeah. I just wanted to make that clear. The anti work camp tends to insist you MUST be anticapitalist to be anti work. But then the work reform side seems to insist work shouldnt be abolished. I support abolishing work. I just believe doing so responsibly and in a way that works. And I believe UBI is the most pragmatic way to achieve real freedom and the end of wage slavery.

So don't get me wrong. I may not be "leftist", but I'm ANTI WORK. I'm not merely for reforming work.