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Twitter Is Cracking Up At A 14-Tweet Thread With Newspaper Snippets Explaining How “Nobody Wants To Work” Dated Starting 1894
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Twitter Is Cracking Up At A 14-Tweet Thread With Newspaper Snippets Explaining How “Nobody Wants To Work” Dated Starting 1894

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They say the only constant in life is change.

Well, some might beg to differ. Recently, this one fellow came out with a brief rundown of another constant in our lovely universe. And that is the idea of people not wanting to work anymore.

Seems quite obvious, doesn’t it?

It is, but if you’ve taken research methods, you’ll know that in order to prove a point the proper way, it’s always better to have physical evidence of it in the form of printed publication snippets literally quoting actual people saying folks don’t want to work anymore.

More Info: Twitter

They say the only constant in life is change, but some might beg to differ because there’s another one, and that’s nobody wanting to work anymore

Image credits: Henri Bergius (not the actual photo)

Researcher and instructor at the University of Calgary, Paul Fairie, has recently gone to Twitter to share a discovery of sorts. Being a newspaper enthusiast, he often stumbles upon curiosities that he shares on Twitter, and this time it was definitely a treat.

What he came out with was a brief history of “nobody wants to work anymore”. In a nutshell, it’s a good handful of snippets from between 1894 and 2022, nearly each of which represents a different decade in that time frame, and each of which contains some form of remark or complaint that folks no longer want to partake in the labor force.

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Researcher and instructor Paul Fairie went to Twitter to share a brief history of “nobody wants to work anymore” in news snippets

Image credits: paulisci

Image credits: paulisci

Image credits: paulisci

Image credits: paulisci

Image credits: paulisci

Image credits: paulisci

But let’s break it down a bit. Not all snippets provide enough context to make precise conclusions, but the general gist is that there is usually some form of an employer or labor commenter attempting to explain a given contextual situation as being due to a shortage in labor, i.e. nobody wanting to work.

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Contextual situations being: industries vary from coal miners to agricultural laborers to factory workers to even prisoners; the times and sociopolitical climates vary from the New Imperialism Era to the Great Depression to the World Wars to the Digital Revolution to current day post-Covid-ish times; the approach of the argument varies from those who talk about work as a point of pride and privilege to an issue of laziness or teenager mentality to labor strikes and labor rights. And all of it is wrapped into the theme of nobody wanting to work.

See? Constant.

The thread is comprised of newspaper snippets from 1894—2022, each containing some form of remark that folks no longer want to work

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Image credits: paulisci

Image credits: paulisci

Image credits: paulisci

Image credits: paulisci

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Image credits: paulisci

Image credits: paulisci

But all jokes aside, folks online found it quite interesting. If anything, it encouraged discussion and debate, mostly on the topic of fair wage and not letting business bleed workers dry while paying them peanuts in return.

Some even raised the question of when anyone has ever wanted to work. The general consensus was that work was a necessary evil that nobody could avoid. Besides, you gotta wonder how we as a species have managed to get this far over the 128-year period Fairie covered if nobody was really working.

The 128-year span covers the New Imperialism Era, the Great Depression, the World Wars, the Digital Revolution, and even current day post-Covid-ish times, which explains why people don’t want to work

Image credits: paulisci

Image credits: paulisci

Image credits: paulisci

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Image credits: paulisci

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Image credits: paulisci

Others started speculating what Fairie’s other threads might be. Among the guesses were “technology is going to get rid of all our jobs”, “kids don’t respect their elders anymore”, and “kids these days”.

Fairie also provided citations (well, Troy Petrie did, but Fairie pinned it to his thread, you get the idea) for those interested.

The thread got quite a lot of attention from the internet, garnering 312,000 likes with over 90,000 retweets

Image credits: paulisci

Image credits: paulisci

Image credits: paulisci

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Image credits: paulisci

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The thread got quite a lot of attention from the internet, garnering 312,000 likes with over 90,000 retweets and over 11,000 quote tweets. It even found its way as a repost on Imgur, and made it to some news media sites. Actually, the thread comes highly recommended because of all the memes that folks provided in response to it.

But before you go, we’d love to hear from you. Specifically, why wouldn’t you want to work—or why would you want to, we don’t discriminate. Share your thoughts in the comment section below!

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sobeckaa avatar
AniaSD
Community Member
1 year ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

As we can see, the complaint is always made by the rich who aspire to be even richer at the expense of poorly paid employees

andy_harding avatar
badger
Community Member
1 year ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

of course we don't want to work - why do they think we have to be bribed with wages to do so?

eraskauskas avatar
Emily Raskauskas
Community Member
1 year ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

I would love to see a thread of old people complaining about young people. I saw an editorial from the 1800s where a guy said that using paper was going to make kids lazy because they wouldn't have to memorize everything like when using chalk and slate. I wish I could remember where I saw it.

riina-t-e-siltanen avatar
Mere Cat
Community Member
1 year ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

"The children now love luxury; they have bad manners, contempt for authority; they show disrespect for elders and love chatter in place of exercise. Children are now tyrants, not the servants of their households. They no longer rise when elders enter the room. They contradict their parents, chatter before company, gobble up dainties at the table, cross their legs, and tyrannize their teachers." - Socrates

Load More Replies...
kubikiri-houcho avatar
Sarah Kathrin Matsoukis
Community Member
1 year ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

Of course I don't want to work, I want to inherit billions and spend my life cruising around the world on a sinfully luxurious yacht. But since I do gotta work I'll do it for what I'm worth.

charlesbosse avatar
Phyzzi
Community Member
1 year ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

The irony is that people really actually often do want to work, they just don't want to be treated as worthless.

Load More Replies...
tamiko_edmead avatar
Tamiko Andrea
Community Member
1 year ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

Everyone thinks their generation is the best at everything, especially when it comes to music and work. Every teenager is lazy and listens to horrible music. Rinse and repeat!

llama_flower93 avatar
Llama_flower93
Community Member
1 year ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

Right? Even the talk of Gen Z humour. I see it, it's exactly like millennial humour when we were all teens, it's just revised. That's just how teens are. It's teen humour. I'm guessing each generation is similar.

Load More Replies...
andyfrobig avatar
Andy Frobig
Community Member
1 year ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

I'll say it loud: I don't want to work. I never wanted to work. Why would anybody? It's a scam. We're supposed to be the only "advanced" animal on the planet but we're expected to spend the biggest portion of our time working, compared to any other animal, and while other animals might work for the benefit of their herd or pack, we call that "socialism" and would rather work for the benefit of rich exploiters. Life as a human being, in general, is a scam.

llama_flower93 avatar
Llama_flower93
Community Member
1 year ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

I agree. There is a way of life that doesn't involve the masses working their butts off to add even more wealth to the few who are rich.

Load More Replies...
kathinka avatar
Katinka Min
Community Member
1 year ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

Hilarious. And always the same problem: Employers offering too low wages for what is reasonable at the time.

sharonfaust avatar
Kookamunga
Community Member
1 year ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

No one wants to work! Who wouldn't rather have a private income and live a life of leisure?

spork-1984 avatar
Spork420
Community Member
1 year ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

Our time on this earth is so brief, and it's sickening that we're expected to spend our short lives, and youthful years being slaves. Spending all our time somewhere we don't want to be, doing something we don't want to do. Being told when we're allowed to eat, when to sleep, what to wear. Being told when we're allowed free time to do something we actually enjoy in life. All for these abhorrent meager wages. Your job controls every aspect of your life, and you're basically selling yourself for simple survival. Your time is priceless, and surely not worth the pathetic pay employers are offering. It's refreshing to see so many in the anti-work movement finding new and creative ways to support themselves under their own terms.

c_devine avatar
Seedy Vine
Community Member
1 year ago (edited) DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

Nobody has ever wanted to "work" (defined by trading in our lives solely to make the rich richer). We want to contribute to the world, help others, grow ourselves, play, learn, make connections, harmonize with Nature, and survive happily and healthily.

ddw2945 avatar
Curry on...
Community Member
1 year ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

Slavery spoiled the rich. No one who's free to choose would choose to work as hard as they made slaves work. I bet they miss slaves. Sad rich folks been complaining about workers ever since.

jennyhoward avatar
Jenny Howard
Community Member
8 months ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

This goes way back. Adam and Eve didn't start working because they wanted to, they started working only because God threw them out of garden with the free food.

colintimp avatar
Colin Timp
Community Member
1 year ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

Funny, I have no problem working. Been doing 50 hours plus for the last 8 years straight. However what I'm sick of is not getting a fair share for what I do. I can guarantee that not 1 single office worker at my employer could do my job; much less stand the conditions I work in for more than a day or two.

rchargel avatar
RafCo (he/him)
Community Member
1 year ago (edited) DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

Colin, I'm an office worker. I can tell you you're pointing your anger at the wrong people. It's not the dregs at the office who are holding you back. At the end of the day we both have bosses, and they have their boss. All the way up the line. That's the guy you should be mad at. That guy is living large off the money you and I make for him. He can't do anybody's job. I once worked for a guy whose first job ever was owning the company i worked for. I worked as a paper boy when i was 9, mowed lawns, worked fast food then retail. This guy just figures, okay, I'm 32, been living off my dad's money, but I'm bored. I'm gonna start a company. Hired people to run the company for him. Made decisions, mostly bad ones. After 3 years the company went bankrupt. Everyone got laid off, he sold the company for $2 million.

Load More Replies...
ssnx01 avatar
Chich
Community Member
1 year ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

Looks like we, as a species, are just a bunch of lazy bastards - until we get older or richer :P

sobeckaa avatar
AniaSD
Community Member
1 year ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

As we can see, the complaint is always made by the rich who aspire to be even richer at the expense of poorly paid employees

andy_harding avatar
badger
Community Member
1 year ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

of course we don't want to work - why do they think we have to be bribed with wages to do so?

eraskauskas avatar
Emily Raskauskas
Community Member
1 year ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

I would love to see a thread of old people complaining about young people. I saw an editorial from the 1800s where a guy said that using paper was going to make kids lazy because they wouldn't have to memorize everything like when using chalk and slate. I wish I could remember where I saw it.

riina-t-e-siltanen avatar
Mere Cat
Community Member
1 year ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

"The children now love luxury; they have bad manners, contempt for authority; they show disrespect for elders and love chatter in place of exercise. Children are now tyrants, not the servants of their households. They no longer rise when elders enter the room. They contradict their parents, chatter before company, gobble up dainties at the table, cross their legs, and tyrannize their teachers." - Socrates

Load More Replies...
kubikiri-houcho avatar
Sarah Kathrin Matsoukis
Community Member
1 year ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

Of course I don't want to work, I want to inherit billions and spend my life cruising around the world on a sinfully luxurious yacht. But since I do gotta work I'll do it for what I'm worth.

charlesbosse avatar
Phyzzi
Community Member
1 year ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

The irony is that people really actually often do want to work, they just don't want to be treated as worthless.

Load More Replies...
tamiko_edmead avatar
Tamiko Andrea
Community Member
1 year ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

Everyone thinks their generation is the best at everything, especially when it comes to music and work. Every teenager is lazy and listens to horrible music. Rinse and repeat!

llama_flower93 avatar
Llama_flower93
Community Member
1 year ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

Right? Even the talk of Gen Z humour. I see it, it's exactly like millennial humour when we were all teens, it's just revised. That's just how teens are. It's teen humour. I'm guessing each generation is similar.

Load More Replies...
andyfrobig avatar
Andy Frobig
Community Member
1 year ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

I'll say it loud: I don't want to work. I never wanted to work. Why would anybody? It's a scam. We're supposed to be the only "advanced" animal on the planet but we're expected to spend the biggest portion of our time working, compared to any other animal, and while other animals might work for the benefit of their herd or pack, we call that "socialism" and would rather work for the benefit of rich exploiters. Life as a human being, in general, is a scam.

llama_flower93 avatar
Llama_flower93
Community Member
1 year ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

I agree. There is a way of life that doesn't involve the masses working their butts off to add even more wealth to the few who are rich.

Load More Replies...
kathinka avatar
Katinka Min
Community Member
1 year ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

Hilarious. And always the same problem: Employers offering too low wages for what is reasonable at the time.

sharonfaust avatar
Kookamunga
Community Member
1 year ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

No one wants to work! Who wouldn't rather have a private income and live a life of leisure?

spork-1984 avatar
Spork420
Community Member
1 year ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

Our time on this earth is so brief, and it's sickening that we're expected to spend our short lives, and youthful years being slaves. Spending all our time somewhere we don't want to be, doing something we don't want to do. Being told when we're allowed to eat, when to sleep, what to wear. Being told when we're allowed free time to do something we actually enjoy in life. All for these abhorrent meager wages. Your job controls every aspect of your life, and you're basically selling yourself for simple survival. Your time is priceless, and surely not worth the pathetic pay employers are offering. It's refreshing to see so many in the anti-work movement finding new and creative ways to support themselves under their own terms.

c_devine avatar
Seedy Vine
Community Member
1 year ago (edited) DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

Nobody has ever wanted to "work" (defined by trading in our lives solely to make the rich richer). We want to contribute to the world, help others, grow ourselves, play, learn, make connections, harmonize with Nature, and survive happily and healthily.

ddw2945 avatar
Curry on...
Community Member
1 year ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

Slavery spoiled the rich. No one who's free to choose would choose to work as hard as they made slaves work. I bet they miss slaves. Sad rich folks been complaining about workers ever since.

jennyhoward avatar
Jenny Howard
Community Member
8 months ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

This goes way back. Adam and Eve didn't start working because they wanted to, they started working only because God threw them out of garden with the free food.

colintimp avatar
Colin Timp
Community Member
1 year ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

Funny, I have no problem working. Been doing 50 hours plus for the last 8 years straight. However what I'm sick of is not getting a fair share for what I do. I can guarantee that not 1 single office worker at my employer could do my job; much less stand the conditions I work in for more than a day or two.

rchargel avatar
RafCo (he/him)
Community Member
1 year ago (edited) DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

Colin, I'm an office worker. I can tell you you're pointing your anger at the wrong people. It's not the dregs at the office who are holding you back. At the end of the day we both have bosses, and they have their boss. All the way up the line. That's the guy you should be mad at. That guy is living large off the money you and I make for him. He can't do anybody's job. I once worked for a guy whose first job ever was owning the company i worked for. I worked as a paper boy when i was 9, mowed lawns, worked fast food then retail. This guy just figures, okay, I'm 32, been living off my dad's money, but I'm bored. I'm gonna start a company. Hired people to run the company for him. Made decisions, mostly bad ones. After 3 years the company went bankrupt. Everyone got laid off, he sold the company for $2 million.

Load More Replies...
ssnx01 avatar
Chich
Community Member
1 year ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

Looks like we, as a species, are just a bunch of lazy bastards - until we get older or richer :P

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