Woke rather than Work

The Anti-Work Movement.

Welcome, once again, my dear readers. This week, we are going to look at a topic that while it may seem extraordinarily silly and self-destructive, also indicts large portions of our culture and educational system.  It seems that, especially among younger people (the under 30 crowd), there is a growing anti-work movement.  Some of their points are valid, but unfortunately, they expose their ignorance in blaming private industry for these woes rather than the government policy that is at their root.  As with most ideologies, this one has several different components and adherents fall on a spectrum from ‘uneducated but reasonable ignorance’ (those who can be shown the root of the issues and be reformed) to ‘rabid card-carrying death-cult member’ who is unable to understand reality beyond their feelings, desires, and haven’t really matured beyond infancy, where this perspective should be expected.

There are several flavors of the anti-work crowd, including but not limited to the quiet quitters, the minimalist employment, and the we shouldn’t have to work for the bare minimum basic needs crowd.  I know to serious adult people that last one sounds insane, but they really exist (here). Before I address each of these ideals and attitudes, we will first address some of the largest reasons why many young people have concluded that they might be good ideas.  Interestingly, their complaints are also the reason why things are so much harder for everyone in the middle and lower class now than they were just a few years ago.

The bottom line is that through over-production of fiat currency and artificially suppressed interest rates, the federal government has created a situation where the average income earner can’t afford the average home price in this country (here, here, and here).  It is also true that at average income levels it is very hard for families to afford to rent a place (here, here, and here).  Then, there are the food prices that, in many cases, are up over 100% in the last 5 years, while wages have stagnated when adjusted for inflation since the middle 1970s, with the average household income actually being lower now than the year I was born (here), while real prices, including food, have increased over 500% since then, as it cost $104.66 to buy as much food now as $20 did in 1976 (here)(Note, that is using the government’s numbers. So, in reality, you can probably at least double it, if not triple it).  So, the truth is, with median rent nationally over $1000 a month, the cost of eating reasonably around $250 or more a month per person (here), someone making $15-20 an hour bringing home around $1400-1900 a month after deductions in 2023 is barely getting by.