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Why do “we” all have to work less? If you want to work less you can, you don’t need the whole world to join you to get started. If you’re a developer, the field

Why do “we” all have to work less? If you want to work less you can, you don’t need the whole world to join you to get started. If you’re a developer, the field pays well enough that you could make a subsistence level wage by doing part time contract work. So why haven’t you done it yet?

maxdamantus 7y ago
As a developer, sure, I feel more privileged than most, but I'm not complaining for myself. I'm complaining because we seem to have built a society which unnecessarily overworks to produce stuff where the value added to people's lives is questionable. I wouldn't be complaining if we were instead allocating that surplus working potential to solving real issues like climate change, or improving our understanding of the world, or making good software for the sake of having good software.
- scarejunba 7y ago
  Well, obviously you wouldn't be complaining if your pet projects were the ones that society allocated all labour to. If the value added is negligible people won't pay for it. The beauty of the market is that you have the freedom to reward your value producers.
  - maxdamantus 7y ago
    > The beauty of the market is that you have the freedom to reward your value producers. Sure, you could do that, or you could go the easier route and just spam people with advertisements that trick them into buying your non-valuable product.
  - paulryanrogers 7y ago
    Without a hospitable environment or accessible, natural resources there won't be much of a market. Still, you make a good point: it all comes down to what we value individually. ... At least until that whole collective consciousness thing takes over.
insulanus 7y ago
There is a social-economic effect such that the side with leverage (usually the company) can detrmine how long everyone works. The company will prefer to hire people to work longer. Because the worker is more replaceable than the company, some people will have the choice of whether to work at all, or to work the same amount as everyone else.

maxdamantus 7y ago

As a developer, sure, I feel more privileged than most, but I'm not complaining for myself. I'm complaining because we seem to have built a society which unnecessarily overworks to produce stuff where the value added to people's lives is questionable. I wouldn't be complaining if we were instead allocating that surplus working potential to solving real issues like climate change, or improving our understanding of the world, or making good software for the sake of having good software.

scarejunba 7y ago
Well, obviously you wouldn't be complaining if your pet projects were the ones that society allocated all labour to. If the value added is negligible people won't pay for it. The beauty of the market is that you have the freedom to reward your value producers.
- maxdamantus 7y ago
  > The beauty of the market is that you have the freedom to reward your value producers. Sure, you could do that, or you could go the easier route and just spam people with advertisements that trick them into buying your non-valuable product.
- paulryanrogers 7y ago
  Without a hospitable environment or accessible, natural resources there won't be much of a market. Still, you make a good point: it all comes down to what we value individually. ... At least until that whole collective consciousness thing takes over.

insulanus 7y ago

There is a social-economic effect such that the side with leverage (usually the company) can detrmine how long everyone works. The company will prefer to hire people to work longer. Because the worker is more replaceable than the company, some people will have the choice of whether to work at all, or to work the same amount as everyone else.