Of course all the points you make are important.
But there is also what I seem to recall that Marx
wrote somewhere in _Capital_: Some British employers
wanted to shorten their workers' hours, but they
could not do this "by themselves", because they
knew they would be driven out of business by their
competitors who did not cut working hours. What
permitted the shortening of working hours was
*government legislation* which made the shorter
hours binding on all employers and therefore enabled
the good intentions of the more enlightened employers
to be realized.
Anent "the content of work", I have a friend who is a
computer genius. He once explained to his manager
at the time (paraphrase): "When I'm here doing
my work tasks I am
pursuing my personal interests, and when I am home cooking
a gourmet meal I am furthering my work committments."
My friend continues:
Everything we do in life is the same thing:
We learn more about who we are.
I tried to explain to the manager that (s)he [the manager]
should carefully attend to what this employee said,
because: "You will never again in your life meet
another such person." The manager did not seem to me much to
avail him/hersslf of the unique learning opportunity
he/she had. This same manager, when once I asked for
a work assignment that would be both useful for the
company and growing for myself ("win-win", i.e.), told me:
If wishes were horses, then beggars would ride.
(Remember!)
Cheers!
\brad mccormick
Christoph Reuss wrote:
>
> Occam's Razor.
>
> There are 2 simple reasons why the industry opposes shorter work time:
> 1) Given that monthly salaries would (have to) stay about the same,
> shorter work time means higher wages per hour -- not something
> the industry wants.
> 2) Significant leisure would give some wage slaves time to ponder
> about the system, perhaps even browse/debate through the Internet
> about changes -- not something the industry wants.
>
> <cynicism>
> But considering how many lemmings mis-use their leisure (e.g. useless
> driving around with SUVs and motorbikes, polluting even the most
> remote mountain roads), then long work time is a _good_ thing!
> At least it limits those polluters to the weekend...
> </cynicism>
>
> Perhaps it's just the _content_ (and settings) of the work, rather than
> the time spent on it, that should be changed. Then they wouldn't need
> this manic "getting away"-driving-around as compensation either....
>
> Chris
--
Let your light so shine before men,
that they may see your good works.... (Matt 5:16)
Prove all things; hold fast that which is good. (1 Thes 5:21)
<![%THINK;[SGML+APL]]> Brad McCormick, Ed.D. / [EMAIL PROTECTED]
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