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I feel like there is this enormous fallacy baked into the attempt to make this some kind of movement which is that all of these specific proposals for how to do
by anm89 7y ago
I feel like there is this enormous fallacy baked into the attempt to make this some kind of movement which is that all of these specific proposals for how to do work need to be structural and enforced via laws or labor agreements.
I am a huge supporter of an individual business opting for a 5 hour workday and if the reality is that this turns out to be the way to maximize productivity (I hear this argument all the time) then they are going to do it anyway.
But it's not like the US (or anywhere else) needs to enforce this across the board in one big yes or no decision.
Like this doesn't need to be advocated for at all at some grand political level or as a movement. If you want 5 hour workdays either convince your company to give it to you or find another company that will.
It's the logical equivalent of having a political movement to ask for better snacks in the kitchen. It's an individual decision between you and your employer, no one else needs to care.
I understand historically that it was important to have organized labor fighting against unhealthy/ unsafe/ or broadly manipulative labor practices but those days are long gone and there is no big ethical or human rights issues here, just personal preferences.
- jimbob45 7y agoThe main barrier is the full time/part time barrier which is enforced in a way.
- perl4ever 7y ago"It's the logical equivalent of having a political movement to ask for better snacks in the kitchen." But if that mattered, you would need a political movement, because anyone reasonable is not going to make snacks a dealbreaker for accepting a job offer. Where's the mechanism for companies to compete? People imagine competition exists much more broadly, but you only get to choose between jobs as a package, and only when you have multiple offers in a brief window.
- anm89 7y agoYour missing the point. There is no correct answer to the question. Some people like brownies. Some people like chips. The idea that there is one correct answer that needs to be enforced on everyone is not only silly but inherently tyrannical. Turns out people don't need to pay people to organize votes and collect pensions for every decision in their lives. Sometimes you just need to knock on your bosses door and tell them what snacks you want. People are capable of dealing with problems without government
- perl4ever 7y agoYou're missing the point, which is that markets don't necessarily determine what we get. It's not whether your preferences hold or mine hold, but that neither of us have any influence, unless we are willing to walk away from an offer. So political activity is needed in many cases you don't think that it is. I used to work for a company where not only was it futile to ask for perks, but someone started a business selling candy and snacks out of their desk (in competition with the vending machine in the basement) and was shut down by management when they noticed. Same company wouldn't let me volunteer at the Red Cross because their intellectual property agreement conflicted with my employer's claim to own everything. Nowadays, I'm working in the public sector, and my boss cannot just hand out perks, not even free coffee, because, you know, there are laws that say you don't have the authority to do that with tax money - all events like a holiday party or anything have to be financed by employee fundraisers and/or the union.