It just occurred to me that maybe we’re talking about different things because the meaning of the word “work” has changed from half a century ago to now.

fact

  • In the 13 years since 1990, the self-employed ratio has declined by 20%.
  • According to the 2009 edition of the White Paper on Health, Labor and Welfare (2011), the number has decreased to 43% compared to 1961, 50 years ago.

assumption

  • For one elder X, “working” means “finding a problem for yourself and getting paid for solving it.”
    • Problems are the lack of labor, the lack of goods, and the existence of people in need.
  • For one young person, Y, “working” means “having an interview with a company, being selected, and doing what you are told to do.

assuming that …

  • X: “Work.”
  • Y: “They won’t hire me.”
  • X: “Don’t be picky, work.” dialogue can be established even if both sides behave rationally.

Word polysemy

This page is auto-translated from /nishio/「働く」という言葉の意味の変化 using DeepL. If you looks something interesting but the auto-translated English is not good enough to understand it, feel free to let me know at @nishio_en. I’m very happy to spread my thought to non-Japanese readers.