# You are the only one who has to work. Would you do it? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [January 3, 2018, 12:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-are-the-only-one-who-has-to-work-would-you-do-it/805776 "2018-01-03T00:09:03Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![wonky](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wonky/32/393_2.png) [@wonky](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wonky)\ **Post date:** [January 3, 2018, 12:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-are-the-only-one-who-has-to-work-would-you-do-it/805776/1 "2018-01-03T00:09:03Z")
Imagine a society where everyone has everything they need without working for it, with one exception: You. If you work 40 hours a week, the entire society hums along without anyone else needing gainful employment. If you don’t, it doesn’t. The society reverts to modern day US. It’s not an onerous job. It is not physically taxing and it’s not horrendously boring. And through magic, you can have sick days and vacation days. Say 10 of each per year. (You can mentally fill in whatever sf construct would be necessary to make this remotely plausible, but the construct isn’t the question. In other words, if you fight the hypothetical, I’ll assume your answer is no.) So, would you go to work while no one else did? If someone needed to volunteer, would you? ---
**Author:** ![HurricaneDitka](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/96bed5/32.png) [@HurricaneDitka](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/HurricaneDitka)\ **Post date:** [January 3, 2018, 12:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-are-the-only-one-who-has-to-work-would-you-do-it/805776/2 "2018-01-03T00:11:40Z")
Yes to the first, and probably for the second. I generally like the feeling of accomplishment I get from work, and would probably _really_ like the feeling of accomplishment from my work providing for the needs of the whole country. ---
**Author:** ![chrisk](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/6de8d8/32.png) [@chrisk](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/chrisk)\ **Post date:** [January 3, 2018, 12:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-are-the-only-one-who-has-to-work-would-you-do-it/805776/3 "2018-01-03T00:14:51Z")
Yeah, I think I’d agree with **HurricaneDitka**. It’s certainly better than the garbage room of [Omelas](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Ones_Who_Walk_Away_from_Omelas). I think after a shift of a few years, I’d try to encourage somebody else to volunteer, if that’s allowed. Oh - and this is assuming I’m in a state of health where working 40 hours weeks is practical for me. ---
**Author:** ![MichaelEmouse](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/michaelemouse/32/101_2.png) [@MichaelEmouse](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MichaelEmouse)\ **Post date:** [January 3, 2018, 12:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-are-the-only-one-who-has-to-work-would-you-do-it/805776/4 "2018-01-03T00:25:20Z")
Do we take into account the extraordinary amount of leverage this would provide to that person? That could make it a lot easier to sustain motivation through the years. Is this question in some way related to guaranteed minimum income and its possible effects on incentives to work? ---
**Author:** ![wonky](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wonky/32/393_2.png) [@wonky](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wonky)\ **Post date:** [January 3, 2018, 12:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-are-the-only-one-who-has-to-work-would-you-do-it/805776/5 "2018-01-03T00:29:15Z")
> [@MichaelEmouse](#): > > Do we take into account the extraordinary amount of leverage this would provide to that person? That could make it a lot easier to sustain motivation through the years. > > Is this question in some way related to guaranteed minimum income and its possible effects on incentives to work? You can take into account whatever makes sense to you in the scenario. It’s a question inspired by the idea of “freeloaders.” Given sufficient resources, some people would care that there are freeloaders, and some wouldn’t. I thought I’d take it to the extreme. ---
**Author:** ![John\_Mace](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/john_mace/32/185_2.png) [@John\_Mace](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/John_Mace)\ **Post date:** [January 3, 2018, 12:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-are-the-only-one-who-has-to-work-would-you-do-it/805776/6 "2018-01-03T00:53:15Z")
Sure. It might be fun. Plus, lots of folks would be willing to do all kinds of stuff for me. And worst case, I change my mind and everything is back to “normal”. As a final touch, I’m pretty close to what is considered retirement age, so in my fantasy about this world, you get to retire at a reasonable age and have someone else take over. ---
**Author:** ![Left\_Hand\_of\_Dorkness](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/left_hand_of_dorkness/32/7156_2.png) [@Left\_Hand\_of\_Dorkness](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Left_Hand_of_Dorkness)\ **Post date:** [January 3, 2018, 1:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-are-the-only-one-who-has-to-work-would-you-do-it/805776/7 "2018-01-03T01:31:22Z")
To rephrase the question: suppose, if I’m willing to keep doing what I do now, nothing gets worse for me, but it gets better for everyone else. Do I keep doing what I’m doing, or do I quit out of spite? I think that’s a fair rephrase, and I’d have trouble sympathizing with anyone who’d spitefully ruin the world for everyone else. Now, I might expect some goddamn recognition. I might expect some serious favors. I might be pissed if nobody does anything to recognize how much better I’m making the world for all of them. But even if I got no recognition for it, I’d keep on doing it, because what kind of person wouldn’t? As for volunteering: I wouldn’t exactly be waving my hand shouting, “Ooh, pick me! pick me!” I’d wait a bit to see if **HurricaneDitka** was stepping up. But if the room were suspiciously silent and it became clear that it was me or nobody, I’d volunteer. ---
**Author:** ![blondebear](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/blondebear/32/1022_2.png) [@blondebear](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/blondebear)\ **Post date:** [January 3, 2018, 1:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-are-the-only-one-who-has-to-work-would-you-do-it/805776/8 "2018-01-03T01:45:29Z")
Only 10 vacation days a year? No thanks. My apologies to the rest of the world. ---
**Author:** ![Oredigger77](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/oredigger77/32/3181_2.png) [@Oredigger77](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Oredigger77)\ **Post date:** [January 3, 2018, 1:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-are-the-only-one-who-has-to-work-would-you-do-it/805776/9 "2018-01-03T01:55:40Z")
Yep, call me a spiteful bastard but if i have to get my ass up this morning and go to work and don’t get to go fishing because i want to neither do you. ---
**Author:** ![JerrySTL](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/e274bd/32.png) [@JerrySTL](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JerrySTL)\ **Post date:** [January 3, 2018, 2:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-are-the-only-one-who-has-to-work-would-you-do-it/805776/10 "2018-01-03T02:10:24Z")
Work is good for self-esteem. I would make sure that everyone got the opportunity to work - except maybe me. ---
**Author:** ![Velocity](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/velocity/32/18006_2.png) [@Velocity](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Velocity)\ **Post date:** [January 3, 2018, 2:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-are-the-only-one-who-has-to-work-would-you-do-it/805776/11 "2018-01-03T02:43:46Z")
I might, but I think I would purposefully quit work for a spell every now and then to remind society of what they’re getting. ---
**Author:** ![Nava](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/da6949/32.png) [@Nava](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nava)\ **Post date:** [January 3, 2018, 2:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-are-the-only-one-who-has-to-work-would-you-do-it/805776/12 "2018-01-03T02:55:18Z")
Well, if I’m the only one working… what is the work? I’m NOT doing colonoscopies. No way no how. Unless they’re exclusively of people that deserve a bad one. And of course the American conditions listed in the OP are unacceptable. Sick days are as many as needed and I bloody well get weekends, holidays and a decent vacation package or y’all can do your own colonoscopies. ---
**Author:** ![running\_coach](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/running_coach/32/15836_2.png) [@running\_coach](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/running_coach)\ **Post date:** [January 3, 2018, 3:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-are-the-only-one-who-has-to-work-would-you-do-it/805776/13 "2018-01-03T03:01:27Z")
> [@Nava](#): > > Well, if I’m the only one working… what is the work? I’m NOT doing colonoscopies. No way no how. Unless they’re exclusively of people that deserve a bad one. > > And of course the American conditions listed in the OP are unacceptable. Sick days are as many as needed and I bloody well get weekends, holidays and a decent vacation package or y’all can do your own colonoscopies. [DIY colonoscopy kit.](http://theworstthingsforsale.com/2015/09/07/diy-colonoscopy/) > [@](#): > > While you could possibly, as someone\*\* suggested in the reviews,\*\* use this USB camera mounted to a 16-foot gooseneck cable to examine the end of your own digestive system, I don’t recommend it. You might puncture your bowels, or, if you get to the end of the cable, your small intestines. There’s a 45-foot model that might allow you to make the journey and come out the other side, which, again, is not recommended. Of course, you’d probably want to go down the hatch in this theoretical journey through the body, rather than drag the browser history of your digestive-tract up through your mouth. [Still for sale on Amazon.](https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B007UZ6RVO/ref=as_li_tl?ie=UTF8&camp=1789&creative=390957&creativeASIN=B007UZ6RVO&linkCode=as2&tag=natdee-20&linkId=7UZVVCBO5BCGYYIQ) ---
**Author:** ![K2500](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/f6c823/32.png) [@K2500](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/K2500)\ **Post date:** [January 3, 2018, 3:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-are-the-only-one-who-has-to-work-would-you-do-it/805776/14 "2018-01-03T03:41:25Z")
I suppose I’d be working, if only becuase I’m screwed if I don’t. I work, everyone freeloads and I have a comfortable life. I dont work, then I’m living in the regular world where things are much less comfortable when I’m not working. Not much of a choice. ---
**Author:** ![SamuelA](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/c77e96/32.png) [@SamuelA](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SamuelA)\ **Post date:** [January 3, 2018, 4:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-are-the-only-one-who-has-to-work-would-you-do-it/805776/15 "2018-01-03T04:07:43Z")
You know, we could change the scenario slightly. You’re the last person who has to work. The rest of the world, all 7 billion, get enough ‘credits’ they can spend on whatever they like, put into their account every month. AI agents that take the role of ‘social workers’ make sure nobody who blows all their credits starves. The credits are enough to live a middle class existence, though there are always tradeoffs. Go to space often, and you might have to live in an apartment. Anyways, what if we actually credited the last worker with 1% of the value they are adding to the system? And then tax them at 99%? If we do that, then essentially we are paying the last person 1% of 1% of the GDP of the entire earth. Or 100 trillion \* 0.01 \* 0.01. A salary of 10 billion dollars a year. Seems fair enough. They or whoever they choose as beneficiaries would live much richer than all the ‘takers’ they are supporting. Basically the current economic policy says we should give that one person 99 trillion and the rest of the planet gets to split 1 trillion. ---
**Author:** ![CairoCarol](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cairocarol/32/3825_2.png) [@CairoCarol](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CairoCarol)\ **Post date:** [January 3, 2018, 4:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-are-the-only-one-who-has-to-work-would-you-do-it/805776/16 "2018-01-03T04:08:06Z")
Sure, I’d work. 40 hours a week at a not terribly onerous job sounds pretty rewarding, given the scenario in the OP. ---
**Author:** ![Wesley\_Clark](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wesley_clark/32/20581_2.png) [@Wesley\_Clark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wesley_Clark)\ **Post date:** [January 3, 2018, 4:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-are-the-only-one-who-has-to-work-would-you-do-it/805776/17 "2018-01-03T04:40:05Z")
Yup, I’ll take one for the team in the hopes that others would do the same for me. ---
**Author:** ![Dag\_Otto](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/439d5e/32.png) [@Dag\_Otto](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dag_Otto)\ **Post date:** [January 3, 2018, 4:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-are-the-only-one-who-has-to-work-would-you-do-it/805776/18 "2018-01-03T04:56:46Z")
If I’m the only one working, then who is making the beer down at the brewery? No one, that’s who. And if there is no beer to buy what’s the point of living, much less working? ---
**Author:** ![TruCelt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/trucelt/32/523_2.png) [@TruCelt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TruCelt)\ **Post date:** [January 3, 2018, 6:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-are-the-only-one-who-has-to-work-would-you-do-it/805776/19 "2018-01-03T06:40:15Z")
There’s nothing in the secondary scenario that precludes me having to work along with everyone else, AFAICT. So basically the question is, if you could have an easy commute, the office all to yourself, and the whole world grateful to you, would you? Of COURSE I would. How is this even a question? The commute alone makes it worthwhile. I do worry though about that gratitude bit. I’m not sure that part is a given. Was it Asimov who wrote a SciFi short story with a similar scheme? The only job that had to be done was to flick a switch once per year, but the switch had to do with the sewage treatment plant, and so the person who did the work was considered an untouchable. Or something like that, it’s been a while. Humankind is totally capable of becoming a horde of unbearable snobs, and looking down upon the one remaining “working class” person. I wouldn’t care though, as long as they stayed off the highway fro 8-9:00am and 5-6:00pm. ---
**Author:** ![Mangetout](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mangetout/32/19_2.png) [@Mangetout](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mangetout)\ **Post date:** [January 3, 2018, 7:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-are-the-only-one-who-has-to-work-would-you-do-it/805776/20 "2018-01-03T07:10:34Z")
Only 40 hours a week? That would be a holiday. Am I allowed to get that done in 3 shifts and take the other 5 days off? [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-are-the-only-one-who-has-to-work-would-you-do-it/805776.md?page=2)