Tom Walker suggests I am proposing that people equate their consumption with
their usefulness, and quotes me Max Weber in reply.
I am most emphatically not equating consumption with usefulness. I am,
however, equating activity, productivity, production, celebration and many
other time using
Charles,
Not exactly. I didn't say you equated consumption with usefulness. I said
you said what you said, which was that people (not you) use their
consumption as a gauge of their productivity. You are quite correct to say
that people who want us to work less (using the term work advisedly)
Tom,
I get tired of people not only trying to interfere with my working hours,
but also worrying about what I can do with those long thumb-twiddling
leisure hours.
Any group of people is made up of persons. Most of us are likely to fall
into the trap of forgetting people as we discuss
[EMAIL PROTECTED];
[EMAIL PROTECTED]
Sent: Thursday, September 19, 2002 3:52 PM
Subject: Re: Immense productivity (was Re: 35-hour week scrapped
Tom,
I get tired of people not only trying to interfere with my working hours,
but also worrying about what I can do with those long thumb-twiddling
.
arthur
-Original Message-
From: Tom Walker [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]]
Sent: Wednesday, September 18, 2002 12:17 PM
To: Charles Brass; [EMAIL PROTECTED]
Subject: Re: Immense productivity (was Re: 35-hour week scrapped
Charles Brass wrote,
perhaps the most prominent reason why a reduced
Charles Brass wrote:
At the risk of upsetting Tom Walker (again), can I just interject here that
perhaps the most prominent reason why a reduced working week is not being
achieved is because human beings have a high desire to 'do something
productive' with their lives (and here I agree with
Tom,
That is a great rant. May there be more!
I wish people wouldn't tell us how and when to work. Also, I wish they
wouldn't tell us how to enjoy leisure. In fact, I wish they would simply
leave us alone.
All of it comes, of course, from the helplessness of the individual worker.
The
Tom and Lawry,
Some time ago, Lawry wondered just how the immense productivity gains of
the last 100 years have been squandered. By now, a 15-hour (or even 10- or
5-hour) week should surely be adequate for all of us to have much the same
standard of living as now. Nobody took up Lawry's question
in the act of individual consumption, is finally
insufficient to retain our loyalty.
-Original Message-
From: Tom Walker [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]]
Sent: Wednesday, September 04, 2002 9:51 PM
To: [EMAIL PROTECTED]; Keith Hudson
Cc: [EMAIL PROTECTED]
Subject: Re: 35-hour week scrapped
Lawrence
Keith Hudson wrote,
Some time ago, Lawry wondered just how the immense productivity gains of
the last 100 years have been squandered. By now, a 15-hour (or even 10- or
5-hour) week should surely be adequate for all of us to have much the same
standard of living as now. Nobody took up
I know others on FW are imminently more qualified with data and experience,
but it seems to this layman that if economic or any institutional changes
are to succeed the auxiliary changes must also be organized and accomplished
simultaneously. Perhaps this is the case in France?
A case in point:
Keith Hudson wrote,
Jospin's nonsensical 35-hour week in France has now been scrapped -- only
a
few months after small employers were forced to adopt it.
It would be immensely valuable to me, Keith, if you would elaborate on why
you call the 35-hour week nonsensical. I know very well that
At 05:25 04/09/02 -0700, Tom Walker wrote:
(KH)
Jospin's nonsensical 35-hour week in France has now been scrapped -- only a
few months after small employers were forced to adopt it.
(TW)
It would be immensely valuable to me, Keith, if you would elaborate on why
you call the 35-hour week
I should preface my response to Keith by observing that the French
government's scrapping of the 35-hour week may turn out to be one of the
all-time great empty gestures. It's likely that there will be little in the
way of roll-backs of successfully implemented 35-hour weeks and it's
possible
Further on the issue of the left-wing Guardian having the last word on the
French election and the 35-hour law:
Anders Hayden wrote:
Although the increase in the overtime quota is not good news for shorter
work
time in France, I think the Guardian is being rather over-dramatic in
talking
Tom,
We actually disagree far less than you imagine. For the sake of those FWers
who can't stand long quotes I'm going to extract:
At 08:41 04/09/02 -0700, you wrote:
(TW)
I should preface my response to Keith by observing that the French
government's scrapping of the 35-hour week may turn out
Tom,
Can you say more about why this is so?
over the longer term shorter
work time enables productivity gains that result in both shorter hours and
higher earnings.
I would think that the additional overhead of managing more people, of
coordinating among tasks now being performed by a
Lawrence de Bivort wrote,
Tom,
Can you say more about why this is so?
over the longer term shorter
work time enables productivity gains that result in both shorter hours
and
higher earnings.
I would think that the additional overhead of managing more people, of
coordinating among
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