Place and purpose baby! Working for someone/being exploited sucks shit, sure, but doing stuff is awesome. What else are you gonna do?

Its a fuckin nightmare, but gotta eat

Allow me to come at this from the other side.

I can’t work. My body gave out, and even though the shit show that is disability income keeps me below the poverty line, I’m essentially useless at any job that requires me being upright. So, I’m stuck there.

But if I could go back to work, I would.

I’d want to be picky at this point, but there’s a lot to be said about having structure and an external purpose (as opposed to finding one within yourself, which is still possible while working, just not necessary).

Since my job was at least emotionally and mentally fulfilling, I do miss the actual work ad well. I mean, fuck the industry and the actual available employers, but doing direct patient care was fucking awesome, even when it was stressful or painful (be it physical or mental pain).

The pay sucked. Bad enough that even working full time, I technically have a higher income now than when my hourly rate was at its highest back then. But going in, helping someone, that was the shit right there.

I could have gladly done the hands on work for forty years. Even though most days I was exhausted at the end of the day. If you’re lucky enough to have a job that fulfills you, the only problem is when you can’t take breaks from it, or when the broken system means you can’t make a real living doing it.

I recently had a loved one have a major medical event. During the aftermath, I had plenty of chances to use my old skills, and it was one of the few bright points that got me through the fear and stress of it. There was still that old joy at really, truly helping someone get better, to have a less bad day at the very least.

But, legit, there’s other things I could gladly make a job of if I were both physically capable and could make enough for it the be worthwhile.

What sucks for what you’re asking is having to work just for survival ata job that isn’t fulfilling.

That being said, I’ve known a ton of people that were quite happy being a cog in the machine as long as the pay was enough to let them live how they wanted.

Besides, you don’t have to plug away at the same blah job the entire time. It’s entirely possible to not only switch jobs, but move into different industries. Like, one of my uncles over his almost sixty years of working was a prison guard, a foundry worker, a school custodian, a woodworking instructor at a high school, and a mill worker. When he’d get tired of something, he’d just start looking for something with similar pay (or better) and jump ship. He bitches about being bored now that he’s retired.

because they have to, else they starve to death.

they are gonna make you hate being unemployed and long for a job by simply making you live with material scarcity if you don’t.

There are two layers in this question.
In the literal sense, they want to work because it does something for them. For some, work is means to an end. They want to do X but they can’t survive on profits from doing X so they spend some time working to do the thing that they feel actually adds meaning to their life. The other layer of this is the fear you are experiencing because you are staring into an abstract void. ‘Work’ can mean many, many different things. Quick peek at your Lemmy history says you have some interest in books. What if it was your ‘work’ to spend hours each day getting paid to read books, as an audio book reader, a literary editor, or something similar? What if it was your ‘work’ to spend hours each day being paid to write books as an author, or a journalist? Work can be hellish if you end up doing something you hate, for and with people you hate, to produce something you feel is making the world a worse place to live. It can also be a process of going somewhere pleasant, to do things you enjoy, with and for people you like, to produce something that you feel makes the world a better place. Work is just the label on the box. It doesn’t tell you much about what’s inside.

Find something you genuinely enjoy doing.

Also, having moneyz is nice.

The question is, what else would you be doing with your time?

Most people want to feel productive. Forty hours is too much but almost nobody wants to only sit on the bank that is depressing in the long run.

Important distinction between “working” and “having a job”. You do a job for someone else. You should always be working for yourself. Labor for ones own ends in enjoyable. Labor for someone else is a means to an end. Recognize it is something to balance and balance it the best you can for the life you want to have.

There is dignity in contributing to society, I do something I’m reasonably good at and therefore enjoy doing, my colleagues are friendly and decent people, it puts a roof over my head, food on the table, and something in the piggy bank for a rainy day.

It’s the money, generally. Life is expensive.

I can only speak for myself, but I enjoy having a regular supply of interesting problems to solve, and the daily routine keeps me grounded.

I don’t want to work in order to survive but I want to be productive and keep my mind and body sharp while also contributing to the community. I like my job and while it seems mundane, it keeps me busy, gives me routine, gives my brain problems to solve, and is sometimes the most socializing I get. I just hate that I have to be afraid to lose my job or end up hungry or homeless because of it.

He who does not work, neither shall he eat

I don’t enjoy having to do it to live but I really enjoy a large portion of my job and feel like I am actually helping people

For me it was finding something I love and using the job as training to help with it in situations I like

Then again I am working in ems so the vast majority of my time is spent sitting around doing whatever I want being on call to sprint out the door of the base and or start moving the truck quickly

But seriously if you find something you love and get an actual job that wont suck every last bit of enjoyment from it having a job isn’t the problem

Some places do different shifts you may wanna look into

Like the place I am at does the standard work days but you can also do like 4 12 hour shifts or at some bases a 24 hour shift 3 days one week than 2 the next with every other day off and as long as you have the pager set loud enough you can be sleeping a decent portion of the after dark period on either a 24 or a night shift 12

There’s so many different jobs and situations out there, not everything is doom and gloom with employment or work. I assume you’re in school, which usually takes up just as much (if not considerably more) of your time commitment.