Well... I suppose it's because we don't set up societies. In some sense the technology has done its job. When Keynes predicted the 15 hour workweek he (ironical

Well... I suppose it's because we don't set up societies. In some sense the technology has done its job. When Keynes predicted the 15 hour workweek he (ironically) got the technology predictions right, but the economics/sociology wrong. Individuals don't make the choices to optimize for less work. As few individuals make those choices, it is more socially and/or economically difficult to make those choices. For the middle classes, major aspects of the modern economy are also competitive "races." Good neighborhoods, good schools, good colleges... These things are effectively competitive, not absolute. Costs rise with earnings. T The social context isn't limited to pure economics. Generally speaking, people don't tend to choose lifestyles at all. We like to fantasize it, but don't do it that much. I think this comes down the the "we" problem. Lifestyle invention is something people do as groups (if at all) not individuals. We're more individualistic in modern culture, so there's less room for it even though it is more possible than ever. A religious group could more easily decide on a 15-hr-workweek, or some other major lifestyle engineering choice. There are stranger choices that endure longer than that.