Thanks, Gar. I will read and comment.
On Tue, Oct 22, 2013 at 12:02 AM, Gar Lipow <[email protected]> wrote: > I th ink Tom Walker and Eugene Coyle will find this of interest, not > because they will agree with all of it, but that it is always interesting > when someone comes to a similar conclusion to oneself from a very different > perspective. > > http://www.raptitude.com/2010/07/your-lifestyle-has-already-been-designed/ > > I think the author is ignoring the history of the 40 hour week - how it > was not "designed" but fought for. Still if you substitute 'point at which > capitalists resistance to worker demand for short work week rose sharply" > for "designed" I think this article does make a good point. A work week > much below 40 hours gives workers too much energy and too much freedom - > too well rested to be good little consumers. Because enough free time and > people start socializing with one another in ways that may reduce demand > for consumer goods. Also more free time risk people becoming more informed > and creates a better environment for activism. And it is not just more time > but more energy. Can't track in down, but I remember Tom Walker wrote a few > years back on how ~40 hours is the sweet spot on the curve for > capitalists. Not that capitalists have not pushed back that gain so many > work far more than 40 hours. But I think both this and Walkers article of a > few years back makes the point that reduction of work time significantly > below 40 hours is a fundamental change from the 40 hour week, not just > more of the same. Maybe we can think of it as a step function. The change > from sweatshop conditions to getting significant time off is one radical > step. The reduction down to a 40 hour week is a second radical step. > Reduction to say a 30 hour week would be another radical step. Each step is > radical in the sense that they change life qualitatively not just > quantitatively have serious implications for the power of working people > vs. capitalists. Of course working hours reflect that balance of power, but > they also affect it. > > The article I've linked above is ahistorical and deeply flawed. And yet, > the link between a too-long work week and much of the pain in our society > is so worth emphasizing that I think it is worth reading, flaws and all. > > -- > Facebook: Gar Lipow Twitter: GarLipow > Solving the Climate Crisis web page: SolvingTheClimateCrisis.com > Grist Blog: http://grist.org/author/gar-lipow/ > Online technical reference: http://www.nohairshirts.com > > _______________________________________________ > pen-l mailing list > [email protected] > https://lists.csuchico.edu/mailman/listinfo/pen-l > > -- Cheers, Tom Walker (Sandwichman)
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