"All Parasites Have Value" - by Tara McMullin - What Works
My guess is that your answer is the same as mine: zero. The amount of work someone does (paid or unpaid) doesn’t determine the amount of respect, comfort, or belonging they are worthy of. Existing is enough to be worthy of respect, comfort, and belonging.
And yet, we often don’t give ourselves the same grace. We judge our own productivity, our hustle, and even our ambition as if they indicate our value to society. We try to keep making at all costs for fear that we might be mistaken for taking. As a result, for all the talk about doing less or prioritizing rest, we often still feel guilty about not going a little harder, a little longer.
Separating people into makers and takers is well-worn rhetoric—predominantly among pro-business pundits and policymakers. 1 The distinction is so culturally engrained that even many of those sympathetic to a strong social safety net are happy to make it contingent on work. After all, in the US, it was Democrats who passed “welfare reform” in the 1990s.
Except when they’re organizing for better working conditions. Or when they’re immigrants. Or when they need accommodations for a disability or chronic illness. Or ask for a flexible schedule. Or, god forbid, request a living wage.
