The Case For A 21-Hour Work Week

[Trojan_Ripper]

More people on the planet every year. More automation decreasing the number of people needed to produce the necessities. More and more people working in the equivalent of rubber dog shit factories because all the TV commercials tell us rubber dog shit will make us thin, healthy and happy. The US economy is stalled because when money got tight people realized they didn't really need the rubber dog shit so the factories closed down. In the meantime, there are more and more people looking for jobs. Will the rubber dog shit factories ever start up again and catch up to the number of jobs the population needs? I don't know.

Maybe we should just realize that there's not enough meaningful work to go around and share it by decreasing the hours we all work. Other countries seem to have figured this out.

I don't know if "making rubber dog shit" equates to a meaningful product/work but you are right in your thought Peter. But I believe if our economy gets better in the future the rubber dog shit buyers will be back.

What I want to know is if this 21 hour work week is considered 'full time'?

Does this also mean that wages should be increased, or, does the employee just work less and make less?

Is it now to the point where people want to work less and make the same when they were working more?

If that's the case "what are they offering in return"....what makes them worth more all of a sudden for working less?

Hell, I guess the answer would be that now they could work (3) FULL time jobs a week....so...where do we find these "hard working" individuals willing to forego the extra playstation time and actually do it.... that are legal?

[grandpa]

I don't know if "making rubber dog shit" equates to
a meaningful product/work but you are right in your
thought Peter.
But I believe if our economy gets better in the
future the rubber dog shit buyers will be back.

His point is valid that much of the economy is superfluous, especially as technology changes things.

An example:
If I can watch Stand By Me on Netflix I am less likely to buy and watch Gordie and crew on DVD, which potentially drives down demand for DVD's, which potentially makes DVD manufacturing less practical -- and not just from a profit perspective. If people decide similarly about other DVD's, the demand will be reduced.

Grandpa h.

[RedDaze]

ruksak:
Imagine these same pathetic lifeforms with twice the leisure time? Twice as much time to be a drunk piece of shit.

I'm pleased we actually agree on this. Alcoholics are quite the useless sacks, eh?

21 hours is too little. Even I wouldn't to be that under-challenged. Trojan's 21 hour, one work day actually sounds pretty appealing. At least for people like me than enjoy day and night with equal fervor. Hell, let's make it two days a week! Tuesday and Thursday, or Tuesday and Wednesday if you're a badass.

Honestly, a 30 hour work week would be far more plausible. 4 days a week, 7.5 hours a day. That's similar to my college schedule, actually, which I deeply enjoy.

[grandpa]

I'm pleased we actually agree on this.
Alcoholics are quite the useless sacks, eh?

We must remain vigilant against the alcoholics!

But seriously, calling them "useless sacks" isn't going to encourage any alcoholic to quit drinking. It could easily make such a person more depressed. And the same is true for those mocking the unemployed or underemployed. It is not going to help the get by, and will in fact probably harm their chances by making them feel hated and useless. Plus, it's just an aspect of class warfare -- blaming all the inadequacies and evils of the system on those who are ultimately among its victims.

It's something we should understand even when some apt person is the one condemned. If you belittle someone, you might drag them down.

Grandpa h.

[Dan74]

We must remain vigilant against the alcoholics!

But seriously, calling them "useless sacks" isn't going to encourage any alcoholic to quit drinking. It could easily make such a person more depressed. And the same is true for those mocking the unemployed or underemployed. It is not going to help the get by, and will in fact probably harm their chances by making them feel hated and useless. Plus, it's just an aspect of class warfare -- blaming all the inadequacies and evils of the system on those who are ultimately among its victims.

It's something we should understand even when some apt person is the one condemned. If you belittle someone, you might drag them down.

Grandpa h.

It's pretty essential to the capitalist mind to think "if you just obey your boss and work yourself up the ladder, the system will work!" Such a thing might be true in some or most cases, but we have to take a step back and ask ourselves if it's really necessary to place the ownership of the means of production in the hands of the vast minority.

[grandpa]

It's pretty essential to the capitalist mind to think "if
you just obey your boss and work yourself up the
ladder, the system will work!"
Such a thing might be true in some or most
cases, but we have to take a step back and
ask ourselves if it's really necessary to place the ownership
of the means of production in the hands of the
vast minority.

At most, anti-capitalist historical figures are held as trivia in standard American education. We're taught that the protaganists are the capitalists, pure and simple.

But the issues that anti-capitalists raise don't go away.

We should be attending to that fact. We should at least study it.
We should also study ownership of the means of production, and what it means.

Grandpa h.