I personally always imagined witches to be against capitalism, they literally want to be free to pursue their hobbies (witchcraft, gardening, and taking care of a cat).
Also the witch hunts were part of the violent transition from feudalism to capitalism. It was about limiting women's access to birth control and growing the workforce. "Witches" were usually the midwives of their villages. Women had to be alienated from control over their own bodies before they could be forced into subservient roles as housewives and baby making machines.
Disenfranchising minorities, and especially women, has always been part of the capitalist playbook to keep us oppressed and attacking one another rather than uniting against them.
In my experience they are very much into fast fashion, buying all sorts of overpriced trinkets (many for spells and rituals of various kinds) and going on as many vacations and expensive outings as possible.
Just another market demographic.
i considered changing the character names to something else but didn’t want to sacrifice readability too much lol
If we're talking about fantasy witches, don't they usually exist at the outskirts of medieval-style kingdoms? They'd be against Monarchy, or Feudal Landlords, if anything. Witches also sell their services to customers that arrive at their huts, so they're also usually mercantilists by trade.
I suppose that's what covens are 🤔 or are they craft unions?
I mean, I guess they're religious organizations, but they also function as some kind of trade union.
As a kid, I always wanted to be a trash truck driver. The way they stand on the grid platform and hang on to a handle at the back of the truck was the coolest thing ever to me. My other dream job was to be a train conductor. Maybe once IT bleeds out and dies I'll switch to one of those.
Apart from one young teenager I knew who really wanted to become a tax consultant - all kids I've ever met, be it while I was small myself or while I was tutoring or parenting - want to have "simple" jobs, hands on jobs. Ask kids on the playground and you will hear vet, doctor, and astronaut said along with trash truck driver, waiter, and cleaning lady.
It always breaks my heart that these kids grow up and learn that society gives a crap about certain jobs, be it their low social status and appreciation for their work or their pay. Sure, interests also change when you grow up, but I bet if working conditions, social appreciation and pay were right, we would have much more people happily and freely choosing "low life jobs".
PS as far as I know the teenager now has a career as a blogger focussing on queer issues with his bf in Berlin, he didn't become a tax consultant after all.
That is a beautiful observation. Kids are so pure. Sounds like your acquaintance has it made for himself!
I'm surrounded by dilapidated mining facilities that were once the heart and soul of this region. Some of the villages around here look like ghost towns. Jobs go in and out of demand and IT isn't immune to this. Already, things are changing. The job market is oversaturated with far more applicants than jobs. Work that would have paid 80k in the last decade now pays 60k in today's money. I really don't see any improvement to this trend on the horizon.
I mean, you don't to wait for a witch to turn you into a garbage truck driver. You can just apply for the job. Go on. Go vibe
I’m struggling with this now. In my 20’s I worked all the low-wage crap jobs but I was physically moving a lot.
Now I get paid a lot more to sit on a computer all day at home, and I still love computer programming, web development, building networks, etc.
The problem is I miss it being a hobby. I’m kind of burned out on our work project and sometimes I daydream about going back to work in fast food. Believe it or not I loved working in the kitchen at McDonald’s during lunch rush — it sounds fucking cheesy but my store manager and I used to race to see who could make orders faster without making mistakes.
Going back is just not doable now with the cost of living now.
Edit: I realize writing this makes it sound like I’m calling garbage truck driver a shitty job; my intention originally was to say that I miss physically working (and to an extent being in the world) but I veered off in my late night state
I'd love a society where people have to work less for a start, but also where the blue collar jobs are distributed so that information workers had some physical job to do as well. That way they get to work their minds and their bodies, don't wear out either one, and the diversity of experience allows ideas to cross pollinate.
If an engineer worked in garbage disposal they'd be able to engineer out some pain points of the job. A doctor, physiotherapist, administrator, researcher, lawyer, all could learn and help a lot if they saw how the other side lives. People doing blue collar jobs wouldn't be stuck, continuing education would be normalised, the "prestige" aspect of different jobs would be lessened, service and menial workers would be less neglected, and the "ivory tower" of white collar and academic work would come down.
The wages for those jobs would need to go up. I don't know why the most important jobs in a society like cleaning are some of the worst paid and looked down.
Since we're fantasising about an ideal society I'd get rid of wage slavery entirely.
I agree the best jobs are the worst paid, but I think the absolute most important are jobs like child-rearing, and they're usually completely unpaid. It's basically a complete inversion between pay grade and importance.
Im smart enough i could make good money at a desk job, but i just can't do that. I gotta move during the day, i like using my muscles, i hate sitting still for hours on end. Ive ended up in trades and these jobs are nice because they can be physical but also need my brain. I just wish I was paid better. Im often working in homes of very wealthy people providing an essential service (drinking water) but I will struggle to own a shack at my wage.
I believe the trades are actually pretty profitable as long as you run your own shop? I could be wrong of course.
Gotta have capital to run a shop. When you struggle to buy a shack to live in, you'll also struggle to put a van on a road, own a shop to operate, buy enough materials and equipment up front.
Ive been at my new position for nearly a year and im doing great. Im going to make it clear to my boss soon that if he wants to keep me, i need to make enough to enter the housing market.
That's true. I suppose nobody starts their own company right away, gotta get experience and capital first.
For some people maybe, but this is meant to address the idea that if we didn't force people into "shitty" jobs through capitalist wage slavery, they wouldn't get done. It's extremely common to hear that retort whenever anyone suggests that our economic system that impoverishes the vast majority of the human race might be bad actually.
Did you miss step 1? Thats probably required to live a financially stable life with that job.
Imagine if we all took turns riding on the back of the truck. Then we wouldn't get bored with it and it would always be fun.
People play and like the computer game Power Wash Simulator. I bet we can make public sanitation jobs, or any other jobs we can't automate, that fun and fulfilling.
Powerwash simulator has no right to be as good as it is. It's an excellent, relaxing experience with an engaging story masquerading as a generic simulator game.
