Interview with parasites: How do people who give up work live?

2024 Author: Seth Attwood | [email protected]. Last modified: 2024-01-15 07:49

Russians want to be punished again for parasitism. And Depardieu supported the introduction of a tax on parasitism in Belarus and called it "a sign of democracy." How do parasites live?

Pavel Ilyin

I am 27 years old. I have not worked almost all my life. I had two flashes when I suddenly took a full-time job. This was in 2006, when I just arrived in Moscow and I still had no understanding of what activities I wanted to do. And another one in 2013.

I think this conviction has always been with me and over the years it only grew and became firmly established in my mind. Work makes you a philosophical zombie! You exchange the most precious thing you have for a very small amount of money. But at the same time, you have no life. All that remains is neuroses, psychosis and a couple of weekends in which you just want to sleep or immerse yourself in some big story - read light books, watch simple films and play games on a low level of difficulty. Even if you make a lot of money and you have a high position, you have even less life - the more they share with you, the more they hang on you.

It is also very important that when you work, there is no time and cognitive resources to find yourself, and this is the hardest work (yes, let's distinguish between the terms “work” and “work” in our discourse). Of course, there is a possibility that the labor market may coincide with your hobbies and passions, but the likelihood of such a scenario is so small that it is better to go hardcore right away!

You need to do something meaningfully, not work. Of course, any rational creature, in my value system, at least has a natural right to freedom from work, because the modern system of distribution of goods in society (any, somewhere there is simply more distortion, somewhere less) is no different from slave system, only now we are in economic slavery, and the degree of this slavery directly correlates with the balance of your bank account. Was it in vain that we put in so many people to abolish the institution of slavery?

The state should, it SHOULD (since it is for people, and not vice versa) provide what is called in the developed world basic income, which would cover at least the minimum needs. In many countries, this has already been implemented in fact, although it is still bashfully called unemployment benefits.

If everyone follows my example, it will be great, people will be happy, the culture will become much more diversified, we will see a huge number of different cool projects in completely unexpected places. Of course, this will create an acute shortage of personnel in traditional economic spheres, which is good from all sides. On the one hand, if we really need these industries, then they can be easily automated, and if this is just an imitation of activity, then to hell with these dummies.

The state should provide what is called in the developed world basic income, which would cover the minimum needs.

Of course, I don't like the constant resource constraints. You constantly need to think about which store is cheaper, and everything - from dumplings to drum sticks. There is also a difficulty with motivation, you need to be able to motivate yourself to take action, but if you have found a job for which you are ready to kill, then there is no such problem. But the pluses are obvious: you are free and independent. You are the main one, this feeling cannot be exchanged for any money or statuses.

Money comes from one-time orders, from a scholarship, sometimes dad sends something. With housing, the issue was resolved three years ahead within the framework of my main field of activity. If you look at the last month, my main expenses are food, rent of a rehearsal room and travel. Of course, I undertake paid work, but it must either be in the sphere of my interests and development directions, or be ideologically correct, or be radically stupid. But only a threat to my life can make me go to the office: mine or someone close to me.

Not working is not the same as sitting at home on the couch and consuming media culture without filters. Not working for me personally means doing various things that make me rush. I have three functional areas of activity. This is music, namely drumming and writing poetry in English, which is what I do in the NaPast group. These are various Internet projects, website development and administration. And this is postgraduate study, in which I am engaged in theoretical cultural studies and try to find a way out of postmodernism.

My usual day begins at five or six in the morning, the first couple of hours I spend on preparing the body for battle: shower, breakfast, news, correspondence. Approximately from 11:00 to 14:00 - 15:00, it is time to solve cognitively difficult problems, usually I write pieces for a dissertation or do something difficult on my sites. Between 15:00 and 18:00, practice on drums (more precisely, on the nearest chairs and armchairs) is compulsory. Then there are some social things like a rehearsal or meeting with friends. But this is the perfect day, and not everyone turns out that way.

I have different phases of effective functional activity, within which I do what I can now do meaningfully and with dedication. Instead of a vacation, I rather simply arrange for myself a change of environment with the preservation of activity, but, of course, with its modification and adaptation to new conditions.

Traveling is my passion, every six months I try to go somewhere. For example, I celebrated the New Year in Germany and the Netherlands, and literally this morning I returned from Belarus. Basically, my loved ones have a positive attitude towards my lifestyle, but precisely because I do not work actively. If I were just sitting on the couch, staring at the TV, I think the attitude would be sharply negative. As far back as I can remember, so much I have not felt the desire to work in the classical sense, but I can’t remember any examples to follow. I am sure that both culture and life provided me with such examples, but they rather strengthened my conviction than somehow turned the picture of the world upside down.

Lyuba Makarevskaya

I have not worked or registered anywhere for almost 15 years. I am 29 years old. I think that if some part of the people follow my example, society will only become healthier and more productive. All the same they will not be able not to work.

My day is structured like this: I wake up at three, walk with my dog, then watch TV, walk or read, depending on my mood. The peak of my activity begins at 12 o'clock at night and lasts until five or six in the morning. At this time, I usually write. I chose this way of life, because until the age of seven I had a very happy childhood, some sort of Nabokov's. I always had a very strong emotional connection with my parents, who, consciously or not, did a lot for my intellectual development, despite the fact that I was never forced to do anything, but this wonderful time was cut short by going to first grade.

The intolerable boredom and outright stupidity of our school is inexpressible in words. Of course, I felt a very strong break with my peers intellectually, and in general, being in school traumatized me terribly. At the age of 11, I realized that in my views I am an anarchist and when I manage to escape from the oppression of the school, I will never be listed anywhere again. I remember that I even swore to myself that.

When I was 14, I read Walt Whitman. He influenced me a lot. Whitman, as you know, did not work and wandered. He became my ideal for many years. In the ninth grade, I was kicked out of school, and since then I really have never been listed anywhere, as I swore to myself at the age of 11. Now I am 29, and in my life there was no such period when I worked somewhere officially.

For some time I was engaged in painting, but at the age of 19 I finally understood that I did not care about anything except literature. All my free time I spend on writing texts, I believe that to some extent this justifies me. “The poet is the sacred parasite of society” by Houellebecq, and all this.

I still live on the money my mom gives me. My expenses are the most common: food, cosmetics and clothes, nothing interesting. I don't really like parties, as I am an introvert. My favorite pastimes are bookstores, McDonald's and walking my dog.

I am afraid of society - I think it seeks to take me away from me and bring any personality to a certain denominator.

Of course, I think that a person should have the right to contemplation. I think most of the art that we know is a consequence of the exercise of this right. In being unemployed, I do not like the lack of money and the fact that I strain my mother, everything else suits me absolutely. Well, yes, of course, from time to time I cannot get rid of the feeling that I am a miserable parasite, but at the same time it seems to me that I am still free, but those who work are not.

I feel the need for a vacation all the time, because even without working you can get tired of living in the city. I have been abroad, but I do not really like traveling, I am afraid to fly. I think the best journeys take place within ourselves. Sleep is also a journey. Hunger or extraordinary circumstances could make me work, I would go to work as a courier, most likely, I could also earn extra money walking dogs. I, as Michelle said, love animals very much.

I would rather choose suicide than the office. Death, stretched out in time, or instantaneous - there is not much difference. I think death stretched out in time is just office work. I will not hide the fact that I am a walking phobia, and my main phobia is our society. I think the ideal ratio of unemployed and employed is 50 to 50. It seems to me that someone can simply do regular, rather monotonous work, and someone cannot, and the word “dependency” is not quite the correct definition.

Friends and loved ones treat with understanding, which periodically alternates with irritation to which I am used to. In principle, I am used to everything and I am philosophical about everything. I think about self-realization and therefore I write - poetry and other texts. I feel fulfilled and happy when writing to me, it just doesn’t make money, but I’ve learned not to get upset about it. When I don't write, this is rest. True, I am sad at this time. My ideals among the unemployed are Walt Whitman and the protagonist of The Big Lebowski.

I am afraid of society - I think it seeks to take me away from me and bring any personality to a certain denominator. I am against it and I think that work is partly a tool in this matter. It seems to me that to be listed somewhere means to compromise. In general, from time to time I want to burn my passport, but without it today you can't buy alcohol, so now it has become a necessary thing. I do not feel unemployed, after all, being alive is also work, sometimes extremely tiring.

Mark Lukyanov

I am 24 years old. I cannot say that I am not working. I work a lot. They just don't write about it in my work book. Well, one day I didn't even finish my shift at the same bakery - I realized that I was wasting too much time. Bitten some cakes in the warehouse and left to make music. Forever.

Why am I not working? Roughly the same question can be asked in relation to everyone else. Of course, it is necessary to work in a broad sense - this is not even discussed. But one could argue about what to spend time on - all people are different. And yes, we should more often have the right to such a choice, whether to have a job in the classical sense or not. I am sure that in each country it should be arranged in its own way. At the same time, it seems strange to me that in some states there are unemployment benefits, but I like it.

If everyone follows the example of the unemployed, it will be about the same as always happens when too many people want the same thing. I think that some people simply cannot get into such a sphere.

Sponsors pay for my accommodation. My friend is a model. recently returned from Paris from Fashion Week and brought a lot of money from there. For the last two months we have been spending this money: jellies, beads, movies, women's leather coffin shoes and a nose ring.

I would love to volunteer to pick Sicilian oranges. For two months, get tanned. This is the only thing I think about now. This is the only thing I do. I don't think I have the same leave as those working in official positions. I do not feel the need for this and, unfortunately, I do not travel much. But this is not for long. My close friends don't work either. I had real-life examples of working in official jobs that inspired me to give up this venture.

Alisa Taezhnaya

I am 28 years old, and I have a happy opportunity to do only what I love. My parents are working class heroes and real self-made heroes, workaholics of the simplest origin, who put all their youth to survive and gain a foothold in Moscow. I am grateful to them for their strength and perseverance, for their stubbornness in teaching me to read at the age of three and to give me the best education. Recently, I talked with them about my path: it is difficult for them to imagine that I live without a work book, but in some part of my being I am sure: they understand that work in Russia is a fiction that can end through no fault of yours in any moment. “You’re lucky that you do what you love - we didn’t have that luxury,” they told me when we last met. The moral support of my parents and the fact that I always have a corner where to return if I stumble protects me from unnecessary and often empty work that many of my friends outside of Moscow have to do in order to stay here. Plus, I can always count on my husband, who does what he loves and, as a technician with a unique profile, receives a salary many times more than I, a humanitarian. But he can always count on me. That is, if something happens to my loved ones and money is needed, I will immediately go to work and be motivated for a stable plan.

I had two favorite permanent jobs in my life, but on both I burned out: I did not know how to find a balance between work and free time and the wrong attitude to responsibility and duties. Now I would not have made such a mistake, but for my part I can say that people flourish from freedom. All colleagues who are given air are ready to do much more with their enthusiasm than is required. Unfortunately, many progressive and even more backward Russian systems have never heard of how to motivate employees and operate with fear. I have heard many stories from the creators of trainings that there is nothing easier than putting pressure on a sales girl who rents an apartment with her friend and came from Siberia to conquer Moscow. They are so scared and want change that they are ready to eat tons of shit. I categorically do not accept coaching people, snatching out of them an obedient herd, the superiority that I often find in bosses in relation to their subordinates. Projects born of love and with loved ones live longer and smell better.

In fact, I work all the time, but my work is precarious (the editor corrected it with an automatic machine to be excellent) - that is, it seems to be related to the intellectual sphere, but paid per month no more than the work of a trolleybus driver. I know museum workers who earn less than cashiers, not to mention programmers, realtors and sales people, whose work does not even require a special education and a scientific degree, but a fairly wide range of soft skills. A lot has been said about precarious work in art and culture, and this is, in fact, real exploitation: cash in cash, work for friendship, fees that are six months late, endless contributions to projects that may not be approved, constant revision of conditions. I have no insurance and no child allowance. In an amicable way, I work on a juicer in a city where billions are spent on renovating theaters and museums. All people around art and cinema, if they are not involved in *********, live according to the norm core all their lives and plan a vacation in St. Petersburg.

I respect such a choice, there is a lot of courage in it, but this system is, in fact, a plantation of our days, only in the territory of intellectual labor. I hate the phrase “looking for a young man with burning eyes,” because it is understandable that such young people were usually turned on ***. On the other hand, those young people with whom I worked really want, overcome and learn, despite the snobbery of older colleagues and routine work. You have to go through this too. The reward is to do things that you believe in. If you spend a week among those who don't give a damn and who only care that the salary drops onto the card on time, you immediately understand the value of life without skepticism and this rotten pragmatism. Most philosophers considered creative work to be the pinnacle of human development; most people do not take a single step towards expressing themselves through work. That is why there are so many "projects" for the sake of projects, so things that three people who are concerned are often done by ten who are disinterested. But this is not only a Russian problem, this is how people in general are arranged.

You can't overwork, you can't work on weekends, you have to find time for the spontaneous and beautiful.

It seems to me that the only justified way of monetary existence is an honest business of your own. And I'm sure I'll come to this. I really like the ability to program a schedule, plan a strategy. Now my main expenses are travel and entertainment: cinema, museums, concerts. I don’t need to deny myself anything, but with clothes, food and cosmetics, I figured out the list of expenses for a long time and learned to live within my means. I have a superpowered ability to find cheap things that recently cost four times as much. The most precious thing I have - family and friends, this cannot be bought. In winter, I grieved over the exchange rate, but now I understand that I can ride through Russian cities, which I have never been to. And you can save up for two vacations a year, if you are not an idiot. Plus, I despise credit cards and never buy anything I can't afford. I have no jewelry, no valuables except a computer, I spit on technical innovations and sold everything I had that I didn't have. There were a lot of superfluous things.

But I don’t have children yet, so such changes are happening quite quickly. I started to share work and rest quite recently, and this is my best idea. You can't overwork, you can't work on weekends, you have to find time for the spontaneous and beautiful. I never work on trips, but I take a lot of notes there and, in principle, spend my time actively. I have never had a vacation on the beach. I am convinced that the main thing is not happening at the desk.

Will I return to the office? Gladly if you have something to fight for. Now I have nothing to fight for in the office - I get all the drive from texts, books, films, lectures, concerts, singing and language classes. I have nothing to offer the office yet. I work with the dream team in a convenient way and I don’t work with assholes at all, I don’t meet them, and they don’t meet me. Regarding the state, I am not inclined to disclaim responsibility for my own choice, and from the experience of life in other countries I can say that many things in Russia are better than in many countries of the world. In general, 98% of countries live differently from North America and Western Europe, and one should be grateful to the conditions that exist now - the most free and fair in human history. However, this is totally far from ideal alignment. Incorrect vocational guidance, inability to work in a team, lack of logical thinking, a tendency to conflict - these are the basic problems of a Russian person in the professional sphere. They are solved in a team, but without a portrait of Lenin overhead. You just have to respect the other person as yourself, and look for numerous solutions to one problem.

For this reason, progress in Russia and public life in general are being hampered. In addition, the life of people like me is not regulated in any way in the legislation. Who am I? Unemployed? Civilian? A contract worker? How to live like me if they want a big family? How to survive if you are not from Moscow? With prices raised for housing and food, Moscow, for all its charm, is becoming unbearable for creative life in general. But I doubt that the state is interested in doing this.