this post was submitted on 05 May 2026
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Work Reform

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A place to discuss positive changes that can make work more equitable, and to vent about current practices. We are NOT against work; we just want the fruits of our labor to be recognized better.

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Hi, I'm working on a collection of resources to make writing solarpunk and other aspirational fiction easier. The idea is to put together premade chunks of writer-level research and collections of solarpunk ideas and links on different topics that might come up in worldbuilding.

If you want to see the other pages (which tend to be more link-heavy) you can find them here:

https://wiki.slrpnk.net/writing:start

Someone on Mastodon asked if we had a page on how work would change in solarpunk settings and it's a topic I have some thoughts on so I put a draft together.

The current draft of the page on work is here:

https://wiki.slrpnk.net/writing:solarpunk_work

Basically what I'd like to know is what does your ideal outcome look like? If we were able to start fixing things today and never stop, what does work in this future look like to you? I've written up my version but if I've missed something or gotten something wrong I'd very much like to know.

If there is anything you'd recommend I read or include, I'd love to check it out.

At the very least I can promise I'll try to show your ideas well in my own fiction, but hopefully this resource will spread them a little further into stories that inspire others.

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[–] lucullus@discuss.tchncs.de 3 points 22 hours ago (1 children)

In some solarpunk shortstories, that I read with a bookclub recently, there are still kinda jobs. Probably there will always be some undesired things to be done by humans (too complicated or too resource intensive to automate). Basically the stories (I think it was in "Halfway to better" by Susan Kaye Quinn) outlined two kinds of jobs:

  • your main profession: Chosen based on your likings and what you are good in. Heavy focus on learning, teaching and services for the community
  • chores: Often basic communal chores, those jobs not automated and not fitting for a specific profession. Done round robin by every member of the communal space

These stories have a heavy focus on achieving things for the community as a whole. Work both as self expression and service to others. That sounds quite appealing to me. It shows a way for a highly technologised society, without going the monopolised power route of Cyberpunk.


Adjacent to that: In "Always coming home" by Le Guin the outlined society (which is more of the low tech variant of Solarpunk) has a nice quirk. The people choose their profession and the results that you produce are yours. But being rich has a totally different meaning for them. Only the one, who gives much of his or her overproduction to the community (through communal resource fund for example) is considered rich (connotated positively from both the individual and communal side). The one who, who hoards is considered poor. So there are still jobs, and the society absolutely expects you to work. Though because everyone is contributing according to their abilities to communal life and funds, nobody suffers due to inability to work.

[–] JacobCoffinWrites@slrpnk.net 2 points 17 hours ago (1 children)

The community chores category is really interesting! Do you remember what kinds of work would fall into that? Or have any in mind?

[–] lucullus@discuss.tchncs.de 1 points 3 hours ago

In that story it the shown example was about tending to the communities vegetable and fruit plants on the buildings top. Though I can also see cleaning up or transporting stuff. Maybe even a system, where citizens would be socially required (as part of the notmal upbringing, not enforced with force) to learn basic tasks from each of the most important areas of expertise, to then do these basic tasks as chores, keeping the experts free for more complex work (and simultaneously spreading wide knowledge)