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Ini and Aevi were entranced by his description of a…

“Ini and Aevi were entranced by his description of a curriculum that included farming, cparnetry, sewage reclamation, printing, plumbing, road mending, playwriting, and al the other occupations of the adult community, and by his admission that nobody was ever punished for anything. “Though…” quote by Ursula K. Le Guin
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““Ini and Aevi were entranced by his description of a curriculum that included farming, cparnetry, sewage reclamation, printing, plumbing, road mending, playwriting, and al the other occupations of the adult community, and by his admission that nobody was ever punished for anything. “Though sometimes,” he said, “they make you go away by yourself for a while.” “But what,” Oiie said abruptly, as if the question, long kept back, burst from him under pressure, “what keeps people in order? Why don’t they rob and murder each other?” “Nobody owns anything to rob. If you want things you take them from the depository,. As for violence, well, I don’t know, Oiie; would you mruder me, ordinarily? And if you felt like it, would a law against it stop you? Coercsion is the least efficient means of obtaining order.” “All right, but how do you et peopled to do the dirty work?” “What dirty work?” asked Oiie’s wife, not following. “Garbage collecting, grave digging,” Oiie said. Sheik added, “Mercury mining,” and nearly said, “Shit processing,” but recollected the Ioti taboo on scatological words. He had reflected, quite early in his stay on Urras, that the Urasti lived among mountains of excrement, but never mentioned shit. “Well, we all do them. But nobody has to do them for very long, unless he likes the work. One day in each decade the community management committee or the block committee or whoever needs you can ask you to join in such work; they make rotating lists. Then the disagreeable work postings, or ‘dangerous ones like the mercury mines and mills, normally they’re for one half year only.” “But then the whole personal must consist of people just learning the job.” “Yes. It’s not efficient, but what else is to be done? You can’t tell a man to work on a job that will cripple him or kill him in a few years. Why should he do that?” “He can refuse the order?” “It’s not an order, Oiie. He goes to Divlab- the Division of Labor office- and says, I want to do such and such, what have you got? And they tell him where there are jobs.””

Ursula K. Le Guin

About This Quote

This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation.

A society organizes labor through communal rotation, minimizing coercion; order emerges from shared responsibility and voluntary participation.

In simple terms: Work is shared and rotated, reducing coercion.

Key Takeaway

Promote voluntary, rotating labor systems to foster fairness.

Themes

labor cooperation voluntary service order community

Mood

thoughtful inquisitive

Type

philosophical inspirational

When to use this quote

  • co‑ops
  • public works
  • community service
  • environmental stewardship

Key Concepts

Social organization anarchism economics

Questions to Reflect On

  • How can essential but undesirable jobs be fairly distributed?
  • What motivates people to take on necessary but unpleasant work?
A Different Perspective

Voluntary rotation may not cover essential skilled tasks.

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