When I was a kid in school, teachers would sometimes ramble about their philosophy of life. The students were usually happy to hear it. The teacher's philosophy of life may be boring, but it was usually more entertaining than math or science or geography.
One day one of my teachers started explaining why communism was superior to capitalism. Under communism, your income does not depend on what work you do or how much you produce: everyone is the same. Opponents of communism say that this would lead to people being lazy. Why work if your income doesn't depend on whether or not you work? But that's not true, he explained. He said that he would still come to work even if he didn't need to work to get paid.
There are two rather serious flaws to this argument.
One: Perhaps you would still come to work as a teacher. Teaching is a relatively pleasant job. Sure, you may have to put up with obnoxious kids. But you don't have to do back-breaking labor under a broiling sun. You don't have to wade through sewage. You don't have to risk your life and health every time you come to work. And the job is at least relatively emotionally satisfying. Sure, some students refuse to learn. But there are some number of children who clearly want to learn what you have to teach. You have a big role in shaping the next generation. As jobs go, there's more fulfillment and satisfaction to being a teacher than, say, a factory worker or a store clerk or a trash collector.
So yeah, some number of people would teach just for the joy and satisfaction of it, even if they didn't need to work for money.
But how many would work in a factory if they didn't need the money? How many would stock shelves at a department store? How many would collect trash? Therer are many jobs that society needs to function that aren't very fun or satisfying. How many people would do these jobs other than for the money?
Two: I don't doubt that this teacher would come in to work and teach ... sometimes. But would he come in every day? Surely he has days when he wakes up and says, Oh, I don't want to go to work today. I just want to sleep in. Surely he has times when he'd like to take off for a couple of weeks to go on vacation. Etc. If one day he was told that he will be paid the same whether he shows up for work or not, sure, he'd still come in sometimes. For the satisfaction of the job. Or out of a sense of social responsibility. Or because he's bored and has nothing better to do. But there would also be days when he would not. How many? Depends on the person and the job.
© 2024 by Jay Johansen
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