You're missing a critical statement in that logic:
- without working, people cannot get money
This is not a physical law of nature, it's how American society has chosen to be, and if there were political will, society could choose to modify that "rule". We've just collectively convinced ourselves that it is axiomatic.
It's really too bad that this whole pandemic hasn't sparked much conversation about how we could structure things so people don't starve when they aren't doing this ritual called work.
I'd argue that in its more general form, its absolutely axiomatic. Humans are mortal, in order to preserve our life, we have to put in a considerable amount of effort. There is no organization of society that negates this truth.
Maintaining life at our current standard of living requires an extraordinary amount of work. And if you're going to use society's resources to survive then you should contribute back to society by working, its not a "ritual".
The idea that working is somehow an artificial constraint is completely wrong, and leads to utopian thinking, not actual possible policy alternatives.
- without working, people cannot get money
This is not a physical law of nature, it's how American society has chosen to be, and if there were political will, society could choose to modify that "rule". We've just collectively convinced ourselves that it is axiomatic.
It's really too bad that this whole pandemic hasn't sparked much conversation about how we could structure things so people don't starve when they aren't doing this ritual called work.