"Work, not wages"

Eric just wrote an essay on Peter Maurin, which interested me in him again. This morning, I found this passage in a short biography about him:

A radical even among radicals, Maurin thought protest would do little to bring about real change. "Strikes don't strike me," he said, arguing that the old order would die from neglect, not censure. What was needed first of all was a vision of a future society, and with this a program of constructive steps with which to begin realizing bits of the vision in one's own life....

He saw no point in struggling for better hours or more pay in places where the work was dehumanizing. It was time, he said, "to fire the bosses."

What does that mean? I think this favorite saying of his helps: "Work, not wages--work is not a commodity to be bought and sold."

And this, from one of his "easy essays":

They say that there is no work to do.
There is plenty of work to do, but no wages.

But people do not need to work for wages.
They can offer their services as a gift.

Amen!