I never struggled with the soullessness of office culture, although after a few years I opted out of as many group lunches and corporate retreats as I could because I’m just generally shy and uncomfortable functioning in non-work-related conversations.

I think it’s just that work in general sucks. even if it’s close to your passion (assuming that concept is even valid) it’s really fucking hard to do it all day, almost every day, for year after year after year, whether you want to or not. what that looks like for office workers is a lot of sitting in one chair and either doing draining mental labor or tactically slacking off which creates a whole new dynamic of slowly-creeping dread. office work kind of creates the equivalent of middle class neurosis - it sucks but you push yourself in lockstep with work needs because you’re terrified of losing your supposedly-easy air-conditioned job. the job is actually easier, but the massive psychic damage of all this anxiety takes its own unique toll over time.

I don’t think this is going to be any different under socialism btw. labor is still alienating. rocket engineers still live in terror of screwing up badly enough to be sent down to the country. in my mind the advantages are that socialism can turn the fruits of labor to social ends, and that it’s not structurally beholden to infinite growth so we could cut back working hours as productive forces advance enough to get away with it.