Under capitalism, a lot of the time, highly dangerous jobs are also highly paid. Kind of a balance that the individual decides to engage with. Same idea behind getting an advanced degree in STEM or law. I think of my job by example, I’m a power plant operator at a large combined cycle plant. No fucking shot I’d be doing this if the pay wasn’t good. I’m around explosive and deadly hot shit all day.
I posed the question because I’m not a communist, but, I’ve also not looked into it very much. I’m not fully in support of whatever the fuck is happening right now. So I figure, maybe some good answers will help me grasp why so many people recommend communism. Turns out its kind of a cliche question, yet, nobody seems to have an answer. Wild to me, personally, to advocate for something so world shifting without clear answers to massive questions like this. I love the comments that are just like “well some people just really like to work hard” alright, I’m not betting society on the hope some people are willing to work a 10× harder/more dangerous job for the same level of benefit.
I think it’s more nuanced then you let on. People in general have vastly different aptitudes, interests, risk tolerance, etc…, as I’m sure you’re aware. Not everyone would be a hippie artist given the chance. I don’t think it’s crazy to assume that when society provides for everyone’s basic needs, including the ability to pursue leisure activties, there would still be people that want to work in combined cycle power plants because that interests them and it’s something that provides real value to society.
I think another important thing to consider is that when the need for capitalist growth and profit motives are removed from society we wouldn’t need as much power and as many combined cycle power plants. People wouldn’t be addicted to hoarding shit and consuming, advertisers wouldn’t be trying to convince people to do so, and we wouldn’t be making as much stuff. We would be allocating resources in a way that is just and equitable for all members of society and the environment. Workers could work a few hours a day or a week a month, because the plant wouldn’t demand the maximum amount of labour value they can legally get out of each worker. That doesn’t sound like so bad a life to me, I think enough people would think so too.
At the end of the day, it’s like a lot of the other comments are saying: it’s hard to imagine a world without capitalism because we haven’t tried it.
Please keep in mind that I have read very little of the actual literature and am woefully uninformed on the topic of communism. This is just my interpretation of things might work based on the little I’ve managed to pick up on the subject, but I thought my input would still be valuable.
Edit to add: The job might not be as dangerous either. Without profit incentive you wouldn’t need maximum up-time. You could do more shut downs and preventative maintenance. Take slower/safer approaches to tasks. I’ve never worked in a power plant, but I don’t think I’m too far off what might be posible.