Not quite sure this the appropriate forum, but here goes:
I was just looking at Amazon and I noticed a book by Jeremy Rifkin titled The Zero Marginal Cost Society, where according to my brief glance at the description, the author looks at the implications of a society where goods and services are nearly free of charge. Fixed costs will remain (and require capital) but there may come a point where innovation in a competitive market drives productivity to a point where goods and services can basically be given away. Collaborative Commons is mentioned a lot, so I gather that part of the equation is that a lot of people will donate their labor. That said, what would you be willing to do for free? I am a software developer myself, but it’s definitely not something I do for pleasure.
I am a software developer/systems analyst too and I cannot think of anything that fits. I hate to say it (but not too much) that volunteer work has never been my thing even in a small way and I have never felt guilty about that. I always treat people fairly but I think under a strictly capitalist model when it comes to work. I do work and get paid for it in immediate and concrete terms. The end. I will throw out favors, sometimes even big ones, at my own discretion but I don’t think it will ever be a regular thing.
For example, if you are drowning and need your life saved, I am probably the person most likely to dive in and save you that one time but I am not going to sit on a lifeguard stand for hours at a time on a busy beach waiting for that to happen to someone. My time is my most valuable resource and I am not about to start giving it away without direct compensation.
I have pissed a lot of people off with that outlook but I really don’t care. I come from a long line of teachers and other ‘compassionate’ service professionals. They are notorious for giving away not only their own time, but other people’s as well. I witnessed enough of that growing up that it left a permanent bad impression on me for all volunteer work and unpaid labor. My job sometimes asks me to donate charity service hours on weekends so that they can get their logo on a plaque somewhere. I have always refused because my family and my sanity are already my weekend charities and they take up every hour of all of them. Those are all booked up for the next 50 years or so.
In his book “On Writing”, Stephen King made the observation that if you’re writing for money you’re probably in the wrong business. Or, I would imagine, not a very happy one. The idea is that you should be writing because you love writing, and are willing to do it for free for the sheer enjoyment. That’s me. I love assembling words the same way that some folks like assembling model planes or jigsaw puzzles.
P.S.- I imagine this thread will be packing up and moving to one of the other forums very soon.
BTW, I don’t believe the premise of the book in the slightest. It is just a recycled notion by a futurist (who have slightly less predictive abilities than a ghetto psychic). The same thing was claimed about Communism and various forms of Socialism decades ago and of course it didn’t work because it can’t. It violates the law of Supply and Demand plus several innate aspects of human nature.
The fact remains that work is called work for a reason. To get people to learn it and do it professionally, you have to pay those with the best aptitude and willingness some type compensation to get them to do it well. Otherwise, you are going to end up with a ton of people that want to take care of baby zoo animals and hardly any that do very necessary but generally unpleasant work. Society would fall part in short order because there wouldn’t be any way to signal people that a lot more people need to stop doing this and start doing that. Only the most technologically delusional people think that all or even most human work will become completely obsolete any time in the foreseeable future so it is vital to have those signals through compensation.
This. I have done a little bit of editing at Wikipedia, too.
I also write and publish scholarly/scientific articles that, I hope, contribute to the advancement of human understanding. As I am now officially retired, nobody pays me to do so.
In the earlier days of the internet, I wrote articles about various computer buses and how to interface to different electronic things, and wrote a few tutorials about basic electronics tinkering. Some of it has been published but most of the computer info is out there on the net for free (sometimes with my name still attached, sometimes not).
I’ve also written quite a few wikipedia articles and have edited a lot of articles as well.
Back when I had more free time, I belonged to a group called Volunteers for Medical Engineering. We would design stuff for people with various needs. VME later joined up with another group and they now call themselves V-Linc.
I work fairly long hours these days and I have family members I need to care for. If my house was paid off (which it will be soon) and I could get food very cheaply and didn’t have to work just to survive, I would be willing to donate my time to a lot more things. I would probably concentrate on medical engineering. It’s very rewarding (emotionally, not financially) when you make something that changes someone’s life for the better. But if someone needed their house fixed I would be more than willing to pitch in a hand with things like that.
I write and contribute to open source software. Usually when I’m directly paid for the work, but not always. Sometimes I do it in my spare time or to help a friend. Sometimes it’s to learn a skill that might help my career (or just to keep current). Sometimes it’s because contributing to a project helps grow the paid economy that thrives on it, and that’s good for business. In the past I did it as a way of attracting clients, and helping to grow the pool of potential clients. In some cases, with the hope of creating entirely new ways of doing things.
Is that working for “free”? My motives weren’t entirely or even primarily altruistic. In every case my intention was to leave the world a tiny bit better than when I started. But mainly, to be able to benefit personally - directly or indirectly - from it. It hasn’t always worked out that way.
Like many here, my day job is software engineering. Even though I love my job, I can’t imagine programming for free as a hard-core “give to the community” thing—I always imagined that if I were on some fancy open source project it would be full of unpleasant arrogant people who would tell me my code sucks (don’t know if my assessment has any basis in truth).
I spent most of a decade volunteering regularly on a crisis/suicide hotline. In fact, there were many times when I said that I would happily do that work full time if I didn’t need to earn a living.
These days I regularly go on photo shoots, providing professional head shots and portraits for people who ask nicely. My kids go to a small Christian school that is always in need of people to do everything: I photograph school events, even provide class photos and individual portraits to parents, with fancy lighting, backdrops, and all.
If I could actually make a living as a photographer, I would. But the next best thing is to have my day job pay me enough so I can be a photographer for free and make people happy.
If you’re responding to my comment, that wasn’t the premise at all. King wasn’t describing some Utopian world where everyone works for free for the sheer joy of it, he was specifically talking about writing as an art form. Somebody who writes a really great novel is generally going to be someone who is driven by a talent and a passion for writing. OTOH, if you find a book like “How to Become a Millionaire in 90 Days, by Richie Richguy, as told to Cletus C. Fudrucker”, then it’s a pretty good bet that old Cletus is likely not a very good writer!
I talk to high school classes (usually about civics, government, and/or the law.) I’m addressing a class called “Street Law” this semester. Apparently it’s a sort of practical legal advice class for high school seniors - everything from what to do when you’re stopped by the police to how wills and trusts work.
I also do a 5K for a brain tumor research charity every year. I was the top individual fundraiser last year. I got a T-shirt, though, so it wasn’t “for free” per se.
Nothing. The things I am good at are valuable but not enjoyable, and the things I enjoy doing for free are all experiential or of value only to me. Nobody cares if I went on a trip, or took a photo, or played a board game with my friends.
Acctually, I can (and do) volunteer labor to people who need it. I don’t mind doing dirty, physical grunt work and have some skills in construction and carpentry. I wouldn’t want to do it for living, but it’s a good diversion from my sedentary vocation.
I have contributed a lot of fan fiction to the world. You’re welcome, world.
I would probably contribute more handy-man stuff.
I would also drive people around for free.
I’m surprised by the software answers. I use a lot of specific, one-trick-pony-by-an-interested-person software, lots of free or charge game entry systems for MUDs, scripts, screenshot tools, little games, etc. A lot of it is “I created X to solve this problem, now I’m letting the world have it.” AdBlock, DownloadHelper (which I’ve donated too), etc., etc.
I’ve been writing, recording, and performing music to the public since I was fifteen years old. While it has brought in some money here and there, it’s probably only barely broken me even with the cost of my own equipment, meaning the thousands of hours I’ve spent at it have been essentially free. A labor of love.
I write record reviews and post them on rateyourmusic.com. I’ve been at it since around 2007 and have done more than 500. If you want to check them out, my username there is “fatpidgeon”.
