Antiwork
For the abolition of work. Yes really, abolish work! Not "reform work" but the destruction of work as a separate field of human activity.
To save the world, we're going to have to stop working! — David Graeber
A strange delusion possesses the working classes of the nations where capitalist civilization holds its sway. ...the love of work... Instead of opposing this mental aberration, the priests, the economists, and the moralists have cast a sacred halo over work. — Paul Lafargue
In communist society, where nobody has one exclusive sphere of activity but each can become accomplished in any branch he wishes, society regulates the general production and thus makes it possible for me to do one thing today and another tomorrow, to hunt in the morning, fish in the afternoon, rear cattle in the evening, criticise after dinner, just as I have a mind, without ever becoming hunter, fisherman, herdsman or critic. — Karl Marx
In the glorification of 'work', in the unwearied talk of the 'blessing of work', I see the same covert idea as in the praise of useful impersonal actions: that of fear of everything individual. — Friedrich Nietzsche
If hard work were such a wonderful thing, surely the rich would have kept it all to themselves. — Lane Kirkland
The bottom line is simple: all of us deserve to make the most of our potential as we see fit, to be the masters of our own destinies. Being forced to sell these things away to survive is tragic and humiliating. We don’t have to live like this. ― CrimethInc
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Always check with a Lawyer first. This is not legal advice. I am yelling from a rooftop into the air.
ahem
Non-compete agreements often have tagged on bullshit meant to sound scary! A lot of that bullshit cannot be enforced and can be ignored with impunity. In fact, there is often legal precedence to back this up. NEVER assume signing a contract means you are stuck by its terms as the contract must also be legal in scope.
Generally, a non compete cannot prevent one from pursuing work in a reasonable manner. Only the portions that directly protect the business, such as not quitting and leaving for a direct competitor, are enforceable.
I am not a lawyer. I'm pretty sure I came close to the answer, but I know there is a lot of wiggle room, gray area, nuance, and difference between US states.
Find a job somewhere else and watch them sink slowly from afar.
Go fast, and get a raise while you are at it.
I'm guessing a non-compete doesn't count if they fire you or 'let you go'. Cause if they didn't want you working for someone else, they shouldn't have gotten rid of you.
The best way to think about it is whether a provision within a non-compete makes sense to a reasonable person. In other words: Is it unreasonable? A likely not enforceable provision would be "cannot work for a competitor in the same State" due to how broad and how restrictive that provision is to the old employee. A court would look at that, at the industry, and pretty much every time say that the old employee cannot be reasonably expected to move themselves and their family out of State for a new job.
Gotta be purely logical though. Just because it's bullshit doesn't mean it's unreasonable.