New worldbuilding resource page on how work in a solarpunk setting might be different
1mon 12d ago by slrpnk.net/u/JacobCoffinWrites in writing@slrpnk.net from wiki.slrpnk.net
This one is a little more editorial than some of the other pages, (which are closer to being lists of links) but it's a complicated topic which needs some introduction.
I think about this topic a lot, as someone who always has more projects going than he can finish, and because I really hate this (capitalist) idea that people are inherently lazy and won't work unless compelled to with the threat of poverty, starvation, homelessness etc.
The page outlines ways work might change (including problems with modern work and unnecessary work), new categories of work, and ways to sift solarpunk callings from modern day examples.
I hope it'll be useful to you - it's very much a work in progress (as all the wiki pages are) so feel free to send me any additions/modifications you'd like to see.
On the topic of volunteerism, I just want to add my story.
I realized, in college, that I really like other people's projects. Doesn't matter too much what, just that they'd supply materials & vision and let me work. I was lucky to hook up with maritime history orgs, who had volunteer maintenance crew. The crew were mostly self-organized into a hierarchy - officers, 'able seamen' and 'deckhands' - with training & testing for advancement. Similar structure to a 'real' ship, except that no one gets paid, and the leadership has to be more...humane? Volunteers will happily do shit jobs, but they don't tolerate abuse.
This combined historical reenactment, crafts/trades, and occasional opportunity to go sailing, and attracted volunteers through all interests. And people who just wanted to hang out, be part of a team, but didn't really have that in their own life.
I imagine, if people are free to work as they please, that they will favor 'traditional' or historical methods. Without the capitalist pressure to get as much done as fast as possible, it's much more relaxing and satisfying to make stuff with your own hands. Also harder to justify big, expensive time saving machinery.
Thank you! That's a really good example and I'd be happy to add an entry to the list for this work!
I'd actually meant to include volunteer tour guides, such as in ship museums. I was thinking of WW2-era battleships and submarines I've been able to visit at local events but it sounds like you were working on even older vessels? One of the guides told me about their maintenance crews and it really did sound like a cool experience though I live a bit too far away.
I'll add an entry for both, feel free to send links to any organization you'd like included or I can point it to this comment.
The place that comes first to mind is https://sdmaritime.org/They have a range of ships from 1860s-modern, including some replica sailing ships. They have volunteer docents, guides, and maintenance, and I suspect this is a common structure for museums with large structures to maintain (so: marine, train, aircraft, architecture). They have/had paid historical re-enactors, although one can imagine that being work-for-fun in a post-scarcity world. The maintenance work can be physically demanding, so tends toward younger people, where the docents tended to be older. I'd say, when I was there, that the maintenance crew averaged around 45 years old, where the docents were more like 65.
My experiences there showed me that there's a whole subculture of people who hang around marinas hoping to crew on boat races for little more than the party at the finish line.
Thanks for working on this! It always makes me sad when people suggest that most people wouldn’t want to contribute anything if they weren’t forced to.
Same! I always ask them if that's what they'd do if given the chance and so far the answer is always "well no, (not me) but..." and then it veers towards whatever stereotype they're leaning on for their understanding of human nature instead of their own experiences with others. (I grew up in a very white, conservative region so it's usually unexplored or overt racism though they'll sometimes point to specific poor white neighbors as their example).
It's such a bleak, alienating mindset dressed up as realism and it's so external - it's almost always based on this pervasive flood of rants and examples they got from media. And it acts like work gives us our purpose in life for which we should all be grateful, like a rich guy's landscaping whims is as close as you'll get to a higher calling.
I don't doubt there are a few people who would genuinely do nothing if given the chance, at least for a while - people need time to recover - but most of us have so much we want to do beyond what we're able to find the time for.
Yes! I was going to mention that in my reply but decided not to type it out so it’s funny that you did. I call it the jesus paradox. When you ask “well if you knew you could sacrifice yourself to save everyone, wouldn’t you?” They are always like “well yeah I would but I don’t think most people would…” Why think others are so different from you?
Modern work does the opposite of give purpose. It (accurately) makes people feel like cogs in someone else’s machine. Participating in a river or beach cleanup with a group for half an hour gives me ridiculously more satisfaction than a day at work does (and my work isn’t particularly bad).