Work done off the paid job is looked down upon if not ignored. autonomous activity threatens the employment level, generates deviance, and detractsâ€â€¹ from the GNP..Work no longer means the creation of a value perceived by the worker but mainly a job, which is a social relationship. Unemployment means sad idleness, rather than the freedom to do things that are useful for oneself or for one's neighbour. An active woman who runs a house and brings up children and takes in those of others is distinguished from a woman who 'works, ' no matter how useless or damaging the product of this work might be. . Ivan Illich
About This Quote

The phrase "work is not a job," is a quote from the French economist Jacques Rueff. In fact, it's a translation of Rueff's well-known essay, “Les travailleurs ne sont pas des chômeurs” ("Workers are not unemployed"). In that essay, Rueff says that people who work should not be considered as unemployed. He makes a distinction between work and employment.

Employment is a necessary condition for social reproduction, while work is the creation of a value perceived by the worker. Unemployment means sad idleness, rather than the freedom to do things that are useful for oneself or for one's neighbour. An active woman who runs a house and brings up children and takes in those of others is distinguished from a woman who “works,” no matter how useless or damaging the product of this work might be.

Source: The Right To Useful Unemployment And Its Professional Enemies

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  1. Most learning is not the result of instruction. It is rather the result of unhampered participation in a meaningful setting. Most people learn best by being "with it, " yet school makes them identify their personal, cognitive growth with elaborate planning and manipulation.
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