We live in a money-based economy. Money comes from other people, who don't give it away unless you satisfy them somehow. Those people that want work from you, will take all the work you can perform (up to the limit of labor laws). That's why.
The simple answer is that we will continue to work this hard as long as some members of society are willing to work this hard. The hardest working participants of the labor market will set the tone of the competition for high-paying jobs.<p>A typical tech job requires far more than 40 hour work weeks.
The mismanagement of inelastic labor supply into soggy demand in order to minimize wages is completely intentional. We need to react to it with the same intentionality that we did a century ago when we won the 40 hour work week, which still hasn't been entirely eroded despite half a century of chipping away.
Right. It was great when women got the right to work as an option, but now it's a requirement.
Nobody wants to admit they are having a 15 hour work week with AI, but if in office attendence is any indication, I think many knowledge workers are starting to reduce work hours. It is much easier to do so remotely.<p>Some are filling hours with more work however it seems like many are not increasing work volume, just quietly reducing the amount of labor.
I would generally say I have a healthy 40hr work week at my current role but multiple MAGNA friends have agents doing the bulk of their work.
Honestly I do my entire week of work on monday and then spend 4 days trying to get everything merged and deployed.
If working people in industrialized society weren't artificially kept indebted and poor (relative to the wealth they should have), then it would be impossible for the rulers to control the population, and they would loose their power.<p>A ruler will always prefer to rule over 100 wretches, than be an equal with 100 peers. And people all over the world have been bred to submit by relentless head stomping by family, school and media.<p>But the current order will end without violence and be forgotten as foolishness, just like the spell of the feared Soviet terror regime ended as if people woke up from a dream. Just like the strangle grip of popes, priests and monks ended and is now the source of ridicule. Our children's children will look with nothing but disgust at how the current population worship "governments", "authorities" and so on - all of these illusions made up of some of the least admirable people alive.
Because the people in charge of deciding which work should be done have decided that we should spend every waking hour making them more powerful. Next!
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