Work and relationships: the two probably inexhaustible topics that many people find relatable. Especially if it’s about the anti-work movement. Not working – wouldn’t that be a dream? I guess many of us would love it if we never had to get up early to go to work again.
We love to trash and roast the companies we work for and make fun of our bosses and our equally disillusioned colleagues. So, if you’re looking for a meme page that does exactly that, No Hour Work Week is for you. “There’s no such thing as a dream job,” they proclaim in their bio. And here we have a selection of top-tier picks from their page for you to scroll, Pandas. So let us know which ones you like the most by upvoting them!
More info: Instagram
#1 Imagine A World Where We Worked To Build Beautiful Communities, Share With Our Neighbors, And Everyone Had What They Needed To Thrive
#3 🚩🚩🚩
The No Hour Work Week has 14k followers and a pretty clear mission. The ‘I Hate My Job’ profile picture is probably all you need to know about their view on the modern work culture. Yet it’s not just about being funny on the Internet. The page’s creator(s) seem to be pretty passionate about the anti-work movement.
They share various resources for educating yourself on it in their bio. One of the links is to Bob Black’s 1985 essay ‘The Abolition of Work.’ In this essay, the author posits that “no one should ever work” because it’s “the source of nearly all the misery in the world.” The alternative isn’t to do nothing; Black suggests that it’s ‘forced labor’ and ‘compulsory production’ that are bad.
#4 If You Needed A Sign To Quit Your Job…
#5 Stop Glamorizing The Grind
#6 The 20th Century Labor Movement Gave Us 8 Hour Days, The 21st Century Labor Movement Will Bring Us 3 Day Weekends
So what should people do if they don’t work? According to Black, it’s play, which includes “festivity, creativity, conviviality, commensality, and maybe even art.” But not the play as we understand it in terms of child’s play. “I call for a collective adventure in generalized joy and freely interdependent exuberance,” Black proclaims.
For him, the problem with modern work stems from the fact that most contemporary jobs are meaningless and just plain unnecessary. And he isn’t alone in this rhetoric. The rise of the anti-work movement in recent years has similar ideas behind it. It’s that many contemporary white-collar workers are asking: “What’s the purpose of work?”
#7 I Had To Wake Up Every Day At 5:30 Am To Get To High School… It’s All Part Of Our Conditioning To Be Chronically Exhausted Dutiful Workers We All Deserve Better
#8 Just Looking For The Least Annoying Way To Afford Food And Shelter
#9 Only Time I’ve Been Happy In My Entire Life
For some, this might be nothing new. If you’re familiar with the r/antiwork subreddit (and our content about it), you probably already know a lot of this stuff. But still, what is the end goal for the people in the anti-work movement? It’s not to abolish working altogether. Proponents believe that they should self-organize and work only as much as they need. They don’t believe in creating excess capital or goods because it requires working longer hours than needed.
#10 The Biggest Casualty Of Modern Work Is My Creative Practice
#11 File This Under: Take All Of Your Vacation Time Commit Time Theft Do The Least Required Of You To Do Your Job
And to all my fellow perfectionists out there: be gentle with yourself! You are worth more than your productivity and output.
#12 Hmmmm
The anti-work movement, just like Black’s ideas, has roots in the anarchist and socialist economic critique. The proponents argue that the modern workplace only “enforces wage slavery and deprives workers of the full value of their output,” as Brian O’Connor writes for the BBC.
#13 ***relatable Content Alert*** This Is True For All Workplaces And Industries
#14 At This Rate This Is Going We Should Be Demanding Even More Than $24
#15 “We’re Alive Just As Nature Is Alive”
Other critics of the modern work culture opt for a different strategy. One of them is Trisha Hersey, also known as The Nap Bishop. Her book Rest Is Resistance draws from Black liberation to oppose Grind Culture, capitalism, and white supremacy. “I don’t want to be under the guise of believing that I have to be productive in order to be deemed worthy,” Hersey talked about the central idea behind her book to NPR.
#16 Memes For Anyone Who Has Had To Lie When Asked “Why Do You Want This Job?”
#17 Every Damn Day
#18 Be Like This Person
The first tenet of The Nap Ministry is that rest is a form of resistance against white supremacy and capitalism. But it’s about so much more than just taking naps. Hersey says that the current capitalist system doesn’t see people as people; it only looks for profit.
#19 Deeply Relatable Content
#20 These Frogs Get It
#21 They Are Called Boundaries Hunty
“We have been brainwashed by this system to believe these things about rest, about our bodies, about our worth, this violent culture that wants to see us working 24 hours a day, that doesn’t view us as a human being but instead views our divine bodies as a machine,” the author told NPR.
#22 Me And My Work Bff Choosing The Same Zoom Breakout Room
#23 Millennial Work Culture In One Email
#24 I Felt That
However, there’s a difference between the kind of rest Hersey is talking about and the rest that companies want their employees to have. Hersey is not advocating for more rest so people can then work more. “We’re not resting to get ourselves more riled up to be on capitalism’s clock. We are resting simply because it is our divine and human right to do so. Period,” she says.
#25 This Is The Important Distinction Most People Seem To Miss
#26 If Your Pay Doesn’t Rise With Inflation It’s A Pay Cut
#27 And Be Sure To Charge Your Consulting Rate
There is also much discussion about a shorter workweek. The so-called ‘normal’ 40-hour workweek could easily become a 21-hour workweek. In 2010, Andrew Simms, Anna Coote, and Jane Franklin laid out the arguments for it in the UK. They claimed it would help address unemployment, overwork, over-consumption, inequality, sustainability, and even high carbon emissions.
#28 Tbh My Main Goal Is To Have As Much *autonomy* Over My Work As Possible. For Myself And For The People I Work With
#29 In My Experience, Managers Seem Obsessed With Bandaid Solutions Instead Of Addressing The Root Cause Of Burnout, Equity Issues, And Low Retention. Make It Make Sense
#30 “I Hope This Email Doesn’t Find You. I Hope You’ve Escaped, That You’re Free.”
In a recent interview for We, career and leadership coach Phoebe Gavin explained how work shouldn’t become the #1 priority in life. “If you look at interviews of people at the end of their lives, often you find that people regret working too much.”
“Very, very frequently, you find that people wish they had spent less time working and more time on other aspects of their lives. And the only way to avoid that is to be conscious and intentional about how much of your life you give to work,” Gavin said.
#31 If I’m Being Really Honest, I’d Say No One Should Work More Than 20 Hours A Week But Something Tells Me Folks Aren’t Ready To Hear That Message
#32 Staff Retention 101
#33 I Feel Personally Attacked
#34 Wisdom
#35 Relatable
#36 I Put “Busy” On My Calendar Before And After Zoom Meetings For This Reason
#37 And Don’t Even Think About Asking For A Raise
#38 I Sure Don’t
#39 …while The World Burns
#40 “So Why Do You Want To Work Here?”
