Author: Tobias K.
The idea and implementation of socialism is a nebulous concept which many words have been written on before from traditional theory by Marx, Engels, Lenin, even anarchists like Mikhail Bakunin to something more modern like the final chapters of Yannis Verafakis’ “Techofedualism.” The application of theory has been put into place by revolutionaries which we derive inspiration from, Che, Thomas Sankara, Mao, Ho Chi Minn.
At the risk of repeating concepts, theory, and tactics of which many of us are familiar, I am choosing to opt for a more personal work.
I have worked in the medical field since I started college, now quickly approaching the last ten years of my life and I find it to be the most beautiful labor in which one can engage. Starting as an ER tech, then CNA, finally a nurse and a handful of settings practicing as such. Working in nursing and medicine is both an act of service that I find to hold more weight than all others and in it, I find that there is always more to learn.
I would call this work my dream job. I love it and if offered anything else, I would not change the work I do.
However, my wife has worked a slew of different jobs, many of which she enjoyed aspects of. But one time, I asked her. “What is your dream job?” She replied something along the lines of the James Baldwin quote, “I don’t dream of labor.”
In my theory of the implementation of socialism in our time, I would like to note that all the concepts and practices that we are currently fighting for still apply. Things like free healthcare, fast and free public transportation, walkable communities, universal basic income, redistribution of wealth, the reform of climate policy, safety and security in everyday life, stable government housing, elected officials that represent the interests of people, all the classics of establishing the moneyless, classless, stateless utopia by seizing the means of production. But what I want to highlight is labor and how I would see its implementation by reconciling both how I view my career and how my wife views the various jobs she has had. And while these concepts are not new, hopefully you will get something out of this iteration.
Under my theory of labor in a socialist utopia, I would first see that a universal basic income be provided to all. Reconciling both Marx and Bakunin, enough income would be provided for all the basic needs of a human, but if one wanted luxuries, labor would be required. (Of course this is assuming a healthy, able bodied adult.)
As I have grown a little older, sometimes when I speak to young people, whether they are still in middle or high school or if they are in college, I try to emphasize the importance of choosing a job that is somewhat reasonable. You can call me a pessimist or a hater or anti-revolutionary or whatever all you want but I know that no matter how much I wanted to play in the NBA when I was a kid, it wasn’t an option for me. But I tell these young people, you can pick a job that allows you to live the lifestyle you want to live and do the things you love to do as hobbies. Under socialism I would love for everyone to be in the NBA but the streets still need to be kept clean and someone still needs to mop the floors.
One thing that is always posed by those who doubt the theory of communism is this idea of “undesirable labor,” things like sanitation, mining, cleaning, factory work. The first way to solve this problem is automation. As the foremost philosopher of our time, the comedian Stavros Halkias said last year, “It’s upside down that computers and machines are the ones doing art, and humans are the ones working in warehouses. Shouldn’t the robots be working so that we can paint?” The fact is, that while working under this capitalist formation, anytime there is technological progress in production or automation, instead of thinking that maybe we can use this excess productive output to improve the conditions for our workers by maintaining or improving wages while cutting hours, capital uses progress as an opportunity to further line their pockets by firing workers. Automation should work to make our lives better, not as another vehicle for the further transfer of wealth from the proletariat to the bourgeois.
Furthermore, for jobs that cannot be automated away that one might still consider undesirable, we can ensure that a high wage be associated with them to incentivize someone being a janitor. You cannot convince me that today under capitalism we have all these corporate lawyers because so many people have this deep desire to help corporations evade taxes more efficiently as opposed to the wage that they are paid. At the same time, jobs which require a high degree of specialization like lawyers and physicians, nuclear scientists and engineers, should also receive a wage in accordance for the degree of specialization.
Lastly and I think most importantly, these jobs should be collectivized. A volunteer pool should be created for things like working as a garbage man, in which someone may volunteer to work the job one day a week or one day a month. While an improved wage does provide incentive, it is the duty we have to each other as a community that drives us to care for each other. The same way that we clean up a gazebo after a child’s birthday party at the public park, we don’t want to live in a world where trash lines the streets. This is part of the paradox of living not only in society but of living in community; I baked extra cookies for my neighbors across the hall in the duplex even if last week I could hear their music through the wall. We cannot exist on our own as individuals and we don’t have to. As a community we are all here together, and together a better world is possible.
Much love and solidarity forever.
This work was written as a part of the Communications Committee’s 2026 Q2 themed writing initiative “Socialism In Our Time!”
