Survive without a 9-5?

[cleef]

Many of us oil the cogs of capitalism by continuing to work for the very businesses that seek to exploit us. Im sick of being a part of this and was wondering what alternatives people on here have?

Does anyone have any good tips for how to survive in the capitalist system without working 9-5 everyday?

What are some good ways to have a sustainable living while allowing enough time for personal pursuits?

[Bilan]

10-6?

[cleef]

thanks :glare:

not exactly an option i can take, besides one of the main problems is working 40+ hours a week is way to much

[Bilan]

Well, to be honest, one doesn't have to work '9-5' (or '10-6). Depending on the industry you're in, those hours might be utterly worthless (for example, hospitality).
The 40 hour work week is much the same. There are different types of employment (for example, part time, casual, etc) where you can work less hours (if that's the issue).
Problem is, less hours = less money, which in turn = less comfort, and in the case of casual work = no rights at work, no sick leave, no holiday leave, no leave of any kind, precarious hours, no recognition, high levels of stress, etc.

It seems like your objection is more to working for capitalists, to which I have to respond, you've pretty much got no choice - it's a globalised, all encompassing economic system.
I mean, after all, there's something for everyone so no one can escape (Horkheimer).

[ellipsis]

Be a FREEGAN or practice freeganism as much as possible. I recently went "off the wage" and discussed it in this thread (http://www.revleft.com/vb/going-off-wage-t138797/index.html?t=138797) which you might find useful.

[Bilan]

Be a FREEGAN or practice freeganism as much as possible. I recently went "off the wage" and discussed it in this thread (http://www.revleft.com/vb/going-off-wage-t138797/index.html?t=138797) which you might find useful.

What is the point of that, exactly? Or rather, what impact does that have?
100 more freegans will have less of an impact than one worker organising in their workplace.

[ellipsis]

Off topic. The OP asked how people could work at a "real job" less. If you dumpster all your food, etc. maybe you would only have to work part time. Freegan=spend less, if any money, money=job, ergo less need for money results in less need to work.

If you wanna hate on freeganism take it to another forum. Mutual Aid-DIY is not the forum for such conversations.

[Amphictyonis]

Many of us oil the cogs of capitalism by continuing to work for the very businesses that seek to exploit us. Im sick of being a part of this and was wondering what alternatives people on here have?

Does anyone have any good tips for how to survive in the capitalist system without working 9-5 everyday?

What are some good ways to have a sustainable living while allowing enough time for personal pursuits?

Read "Living The Good Life" by Helen and Scott Nearing or "The Making Of A Radical" by Scott Nearing.

He and his wife were Marxists who gave up on taking part in the capitalist system:

Czr3iJBY4z0

[RED DAVE]

Yeah. What Nearing and his wife did was buy a farm in the middle of nowhere in Vermont; they lived there, largely on their own steam for many decades. However, they had a steady source of outside income from their writing. Their books are in print and worth reading even if you're not interested in "back to the land."

They eventually moved to Maine and raised a cash crop of maple syrup and blueberries. She lived to be about 91, and he lived to be about 100.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Helen_and_Scott_Nearing

RED DAVE

[Os Cangaceiros]

The strange thing is that I can't think of one of my friends who actually works a "nine to five" job.

The last job I worked was seven to three thirty, incidentally.

[Skramz]

Be grateful you don't have to work at Wal-Mart. Organizing at a job like that is literally impossible.

[Decolonize The Left]

Many of us oil the cogs of capitalism by continuing to work for the very businesses that seek to exploit us. Im sick of being a part of this and was wondering what alternatives people on here have?

Does anyone have any good tips for how to survive in the capitalist system without working 9-5 everyday?

What are some good ways to have a sustainable living while allowing enough time for personal pursuits?

Ultimately it boils down to math.

If you work a 9-5, you have a steady stream of income based upon the 40 hours you work a week. So let's say (for simplicity's sake) you work for $10/hr. That gives you $400 a week, or $1600 a month.
With $1600 a month you can rent an apartment (depending on where you live) or share a house with others. So let's say your rent is (again for simplicity's sake) $400 a month. This gives you $1200 left over. Factor in food, gas if you have a car, insurance for said car, if your fortunate enough factor in health insurance as well, and other expenses and you may end up with something like $800.

So with that $800 you have options. Obviously you can do whatever you want with it, but if you want to go to school you'll need to save some for a while then figure out how much your school will run for a semester. You can then do more fun math and figure out how much you'll need a year, and how long you'll have to save.

Now if you don't want to work the 9-5, you'll still need to do all that math, only your income won't be steady and simple like the example above. You may consider going to work on a farm whereby your room/board will be payed for your labor.

If you don't want to go work on a farm, that is, if you want to live in a town/city you'll need to get a job of some sort, or squat as others have mentioned. Since you are assuming you won't be making as much money, you'll need to spend less as well. The primary place your money goes is to rent - so perhaps not paying rent is the first step. You could live with parents/close friends or squat. You could also house-sit or pet-sit for people who are out of town.
The other big expenses are insurance (health and auto) and a car. So if you're going to go uninsured that'll save money, and not having a car will save a lot too but will greatly limit your ability to move especially in rural areas. If you're in an urban area, a bicycle is vital. If you're in a rural area, check out the public transit and the situation for hitch-hiking.

As for food you'll need to dumpster dive if you have no job at all (also look for local soup kitchens), or if you do have a job, buy the basics (veggies, beans, rice, some meat, milk, eggs) from a local co-op and learn how to cook some super-tasty stuff with simple ingredients. Make sure you get enough protein - either from meat or from tofu, or the easiest and cheapest is from beans and rice. Buy or dumpster the beans dry and in bulk and soak them yourself overnight before cooking them.

So it all depends on how much, if at all, you want to work. When you know how much you'll be working, then you can figure out how much you're going to make and how much you'll be able to spend.

- August

[Ele'ill]

Many of us oil the cogs of capitalism by continuing to work for the very businesses that seek to exploit us. Im sick of being a part of this and was wondering what alternatives people on here have?

Does anyone have any good tips for how to survive in the capitalist system without working 9-5 everyday?

What are some good ways to have a sustainable living while allowing enough time for personal pursuits?

Don't feel bad working a '9-5' - post rev you might be working the same 9-5 that you are now (albeit under different and hopefully better conditions).

Aside from becoming traveling folk and squatting it's pretty bleak.

I would suggest some sustainable farming groups but even then you're still within the capitalist system.

Other people in your same situation with the same interests are a great resource. One day you're working 9-5 but within a week you all could be writing a comic book or making music or traveling/journalism etc...



I have not read the posts in the thread past your original one- are you going to school? Classes are a great way to better your future conditions while stimulating your mind- you could study a second language or perhaps study sustainable living type majors and then you'd be able to possibly live off the grid while making money.

[Os Cangaceiros]

You might want to look into SNAP, too (food stamps). Might as well game the system while you still can!

[Jazzhands]

You'd probably have to give up a lot of personal comforts without a source of conventional income. Minimalism is the best option here. It seems like you have a few choices:

1. Read the book "Hatchet," by Gary Paulsen. Go out into the woods, build a shack, hunt and grow your own food and stake your claim like a motherfucking boss. Become either the "mountain man/ninja master/Obi Wan Kenobi" type, or the "crazy bearded dude in a shack" type.

Advantages: total self-reliance, no competition for territory whatsoever except for a few animals, no need to pay bills, healthy diet always readily available, being in top physical shape becomes inevitable as you construct your domain.

Problems: No internet (so no revleft), no access to the outside world, no plumbing means it could get a bit filthy after a while. NO COMPANY WHATSOEVER.

2. Live in a normal house, preferably one that is foreclosed (fuck the banks), even more preferably with the family that was kicked out. Break them back in. Set up your own garden, convert to vegetarianism. Buy the first seeds and then harvest your own once the planted ones grow. You now have an inexhaustible food supply. Occasionally, sell your food at a farmers' market or on the street. Actually, a better, less capitalistic idea would be to barter food with your neighbors. Defend your house against the entire county's worth of cops and bank rats, if necessary.

Advantages: home-grown infinite food supply, you actually have company, setting an example to the community, sticking it to the banks by busting into homes they stole.

Problems: No meat, unless you're planning on poaching the neighborhood pets. You have to sell your labor, just not to the bosses. Your company will probably become irritating to be around after awhile. You still have to pay bills, and I'm not really sure how to get around this.

[Os Cangaceiros]

To anyone who endorses living in "the bush": I've been there and done that, and it's really not all it's cracked up to be.

If you're used to living around other people, there's a very high probability that you'd hate living in an extremely rural environment.