I wish I'd never have to work at all!

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Simple as that, I guess, I might come across as lazy and so on to those who find the strenght to overcome their personal issues and cope with their condition, be it Asperger's syndrome, autism or something alike, but my strange idea of the world and my place in it is mainly to do with social critique, so to say. I hate the idea of a job as something people MUST do- I believe that each should do what is useful for him/her and not have to do so because it is somehow inevitable and not because he or she is pushed by society to do what 'people ought to' do. So, first of all, I do not believe people should work if they don't want to- that means not being lazy, but not wasting your time doing meaningless jobs for cash. I know this is impossible as far as we live in a capitalist society, but I simply cannot understand the logic of it- this society that is. Secondly, I feel rather unstable and unable to conform to any norm, that might be imposed on me by an employer. I'm 23 already but am yet to graduate from university as I view it more as a source of fun and creativity and not a place to lear 'useful' skills (I study Philosophy- as unpractical as it comes). I have never ever worked anywhere. I have severe to extreme OCD and have intrusive and sometimes violent/anti-social thoughts when in public. If anything I'd wish to be a musician (I already am, yet never got a penny out of it), but without training and without enough equipment I struggle to do as much as I want. I even considered dropping out of uni to study photography- then I'd have a fun job, I thought to myself- but I feel it's too late for me and at the moment it doesn't look that cool. All in all, even if I manage to graduate I'd not have much perspective as I am quite anti-social, at times rude and eschew being with people as much as I can- I went to the city centre by foot (8 km) instead of taking a bus, because I hate being around people. As I am not wealthy enough not to work at all, I tried aplying for something I would at least distantly enjoying- writing for magazines and websites, mainly about sports and culture/music. Well, no one called me.

Oh, and regarding calls- I hate phonecalls so much I usually never reply unless I one who it is. Once I aplied for a job in a bookstore... Yet completely forgot about it. And it had to be a time when I had a bad time mentally that someone called me- I replied solely because I somehow believed it to be my friend. As I usually wait for people to speak first I waited... And then blew into the phone . Just like- huh, are you going to speak. And, blimey, it turned out to be someone from the bookstore, who politely asked me am I not busy or have I just got out of bed (mind it was 3 PM), I genuinely felt I do not want it anyway, but said I'm ready to answer. But the woman who had spoken to me decided otherwise. Well, not in the slightest was I disappointed about not getting that job. Yet I felt like I am literally uncapable of behaving when it is about serious issues. How am I to cope with my life, I wonder?

I wouldn't mind not working myself. But I have to, alas.

You should try to find a job which is very little social interaction--like maybe data entry.

I have no moral problem with people not working--but it tends not to make people happy when they don't work.

You'd be happier making your own money rather than being on "Benefits," for the most part.

I hope you are able to get a job soon.

I wouldn't mind that either.

Alas, I'm not Plato, or some other philosopher who was somehow able to eat while philosophizing.

I am forced to work by circumstance.

I don't think people like Kafka wanted to work, either--but he had to. He wasn't making anything off his writing.

If you can find a way to make a living while not "working," go for it. I'd support you--as long as you're not harming anybody else.

Hmmmm ... I'm with kraftiekortie. I wish I didn't have to work either ... but the reality is that unless you're independently wealthy, you need to put food on the table. You need to keep a roof over your head. I don't know about you, but I rather enjoy sleeping in a warm bed especially on a cold and rainy night. I also enjoy having 3 square meals a day, kicking back and watching a movie on TV or knowing that I have the wherewithal to go out to eat a nice restaurant, to buy tickets to a Vegas show (since I live outside Vegas), or to do anything else within the limits of my budget.

I also like being productive. As a chef instructor, I get to be creative with food and as a teacher, I have some degree of influence in changing young lives - hopefully for the better.

It helps that as an aspie, my interests in Culinary Arts has aligned with my career choice ... so I get paid to do what I really like. I'll admit that it's not sunshine and roses all of the time. Interacting with NTs - both colleagues and students is always stressful but after having taught for 26 years, I've developed some really good coping mechanisms.

If you choose not to work, I suppose you could live on government assistance ... but the quality of your life would be so much better if you were employed, particularly if you were employed doing something that you actually enjoy.

As kraftiekortie pointed out, there are jobs that you could do at home depending upon your skill set and education. You could do medical billing. You could work customer service - although this would require you to answers the phone and to work with people who might be very annoyed or upset. You could proofread manuscripts and/or aspire to be an editor. There are even websites that will PAY YOU to take part in surveys.

In the end though, it all boils down to you. What do YOU want to do? I'm not asking what you'd like to do because I already know that you don't want to work ... so I'll rephrase the question to ask this ... what do you want out of life? What are your expectations? Do you have any goals? And if you have some goals, how do you plan to achieve them?

I am glad to hear from you all. But some seem to miss what I meant- I meant that human life and experience is unique and a miracle as it is. What I mean is that I am not a coach potato as some might have assumed- on the contrary, I am better off going somewhere for no apparent reason, walking for tens of kilometres. I dislike waiting and sitting still and grow more and more paranoid over the years about people. I do not wish to live if I cannot live the way it is interesing. Interesting is not plesant, interesting is what makes you interested in life, in the world. I have read Aldous Huxley's book "The Doors of Perception" and I have to say that while Huxley had to take some mescalin to see certain things as they are in themselves- unique and enchanting,- I often attain such levels of consciousness with no substances whatsoever. Thus, you see. I don't know how to 'use' it (this even sounds blasphemous to me), but this experience renders any thought of being 'like others' mere nonsense.
What I want to challenge in you all is the idea that what one ought to do is crystal clear and just. We ought to work and to produce, sell, promote, multiply things. We ought to earn money for the sake of wasting them in ways dictated to us by the corporate media. We ought to pay taxes and we are obliged to stay alive only because we are still capable of being viciously used. Some might enjoy being used (Stocholm syndrome anyone?), but if one is not it is very hard to persuade yourself to be content with the way things turn of to be. If anything, I believe I have to engage in the arts. If anything, this is what I both want- moreover, I must to that, because I feel doomed to do it- and imagine my contribution to be. Not that I want to contribute to this world, just I feel like if I ever was born and am still alive there must be something I should try out. And what I want you to challenge is the fact that people want everyone to comply to norms of society. You imagine it good for autistic people to work with some meaingless data about nothing at all important. Isn't it that you want them to become less of a sore thumb in our utilitarian society, huh? Society is interested in drugging such people so that they'd become more appropriate and controllable- more useful that is. Jean Baudrillard had written that scientists were concerned in the '70s that chickens and rabbits and pigs kill themselves or kill one another in farms- they thought it was needed to make the conditions better for them. Why make the conditions better? So that they'd be more useful- to make their short lifes more comfortable in awating the inevitable knife of the butcher. The same happens with people- holidays, rest and more satisfaction is meant to make you more useful and effective for the economy.