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> "... 12h days, ..." I recently read Sebastian Junger's Tribe, which had many memorable takeaways for me. One, in particular, was the assertion that, histori
by loosetypes 7y ago
> "... 12h days, ..."
I recently read Sebastian Junger's Tribe, which had many memorable takeaways for me.
One, in particular, was the assertion that, historically, subsistence farmers and the like generally only needed to work, on average, 12 hours per week.
While I know modern farming practices require copious amounts of work, it is nonetheless an interesting idea.
Imagine all the remaining time to just sit in sun or socialize.
Progress, what is that?
- SomeOldThrow 7y ago> One, in particular, was the assertion that, historically, subsistence farmers and the like generally only needed to work, on average, 12 hours per week. I’ve seen this claim before, and it typically revolves around careful definition of the word “work” rather than any fundamental difference in how we structure activities and priorities. iirc altering the definition to “any work that provides utility” puts the time at 30-40 hours a week. Still very much for a 30 hour/ 4 day work week, but I’ve found that particular argument to be very weak. Granted, the west never seems to count reproductive labor when talking about work, which is itself a problem. Most Americans spend the vast majority of their waking hours in some form of labor.