Adorno, Theordor and Max Horkheimer. 2019. Towards A New Manifesto. Brooklyn: Verso. 

The main theme that stuck out to me in this text was understanding work as the freedom to choose your work (the species being). The specific understanding is one that Adorno communicated in his conversation with Horkheimer.

“ADORNO: The idea of freedom from labour is replaced by the possibility of choosing one’s own work. Self-determination means that within the division of labour already laid down I can slip into the sector that promises me the greatest rewards.” (p. 17)

Imagine with me. We live in a socialist society where living wages are provided to every worker and workers are unionized in every industry. Healthcare is free and so is public and higher education. A full workday is five hours, and full-time is 25 hours a week. What kind of work would you do? What would you do with the extra 3 hours available to you each day?