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A solarpunk society
, I think because I have so many things I'd happily do full time if i wasn't dependent on paying work for my survival.
Attempting to lay out the framework I use for sifting what I feel are believable callings from present day work under capitalism.
Decide the circumstances
Solarpunk settings often include some degree of universal basic income and robust social safety nets such as universal healthcare and protections from homelessness. If that applies to your setting, then people may have a tremendous degree of freedom to pursue their passion as long as they're willing to scrape by on the minimum.
Most of this guide assumes this is the case. That society has different priorities, people have more freedom and time to pursue their individual callings, and a different pace of life
For a more hardscrabble, post-postapoclyptic setting where people are scraping by, you might want to start by paring down the jobs that don't need to be done
In this case a good starting point is to ask what would you do if it didn't have to be make money?
I also look at nonprofits and volunteer projects (IRL and online) for similar examples.
There's so much that has to be done, especially in environmentalism that just isn't because it's not profitable, or else it relies on students, or other volunteers. And there are so many examples of people voluntarily taking on tedious work, cataloging photographs, doing data entry, debugging code, because they believe in the project.
On the other hand, there'd be a lot more opportunity to work on art, to make things, learn an instrument, travel to play gigs etc
I think looking to the poorly paying jobs people still do because they're important is probably the best starting point. They teach, run libraries, conserve land, make art. Those will still be around
I think we'll say it's on the list for now (I'm currently working on one on rethinking maps) but if you'd like I'd be happy to set up a cryptpad or etherpad doc where we can collaborate on this idea
Cash-strapped nonprofits
Things you have to do
Even under a system with robust protections, there's no guarantee everything will go to plan or that people will be able to pursue their callings at all times. People may find themselves setting their plans aside to do caregiving for a loved one [[https://www.forbes.com/sites/denisebrodey/2024/04/25/73-of-employees-have-a-secret-second-job-its-caregiving/|(often called hidden labor, this work often goes untracked/unpaid today).