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I’m actually pretty convinced that this isn’t something new. Consider all the people with surnames like “Smith,” “Potter,” “Farmer,” or their variants in other

I’m actually pretty convinced that this isn’t something new. Consider all the people with surnames like “Smith,” “Potter,” “Farmer,” or their variants in other languages. The old wisdom about people being like border collies who go crazy without a job got repeated until it was cliché for a reason. And sure, the article acknowledges that people need work to live balanced, happy lives. But I think it’s long gone further than that, and people have essentially always identified with their “useful function.”

tenebrisalietum 6y ago
I think in those olden times people more or less worked when they wanted--except for farmers--and also probably literally lived where they worked. So no commute, no scheduled workday. You likely didn't have a mortgage. So I'm not sure people had to plan for 30 years of debt and put in literal 12 hour days as potters, etc. all the time to prevent themselves from turning into crazy border collies. Although basic life was a lot of work on top or it.
- vagrantJin 6y ago
  This is true. Ill also add the this workism is usually subjected to knowledge work where its more mental than say farming which is mostly physical thus putting a hard limit on what you can on any given day. Theres a cliche quote that goes highlights, at least comically, the sillyness of our lifestyles. "Work everyday for 8 hours to pay for a house you dont own and barely live in, to pay for a car you dont own for 2 hours in traffic everyday."
- aidenn0 6y ago
  A recent series of posts on a historian's blog[1], stressed that subsistence farmers farmed as little as they could get away with (i.e. enough to feed the family), while the ruling class tried to get them to farm as much as possible (to increase the tax base). 1: https://acoup.blog/ https://acoup.blog/
  - throwaway0a5e 6y ago
    "as little as they could get away with" is still a hell of a lot when you don't have a tractor.
    - aidenn0 6y ago
      Roughly a factor of 4 difference though[1]. The article states 5 acres was a typical farm size while an extended family unit with two adult males could farm 20 acres. A later article goes into the fact that tenant-farmers (a.k.a sharecroppers) would keep only 50% of what they farmed compared to 80-90% for non-tenant farmers. 1: https://acoup.blog/2020/07/24/collections-bread-how-did-they-make-it-part-i-farmers/ https://acoup.blog/2020/07/24/collections-bread-how-did-they...

tenebrisalietum 6y ago

I think in those olden times people more or less worked when they wanted--except for farmers--and also probably literally lived where they worked. So no commute, no scheduled workday. You likely didn't have a mortgage. So I'm not sure people had to plan for 30 years of debt and put in literal 12 hour days as potters, etc. all the time to prevent themselves from turning into crazy border collies. Although basic life was a lot of work on top or it.

vagrantJin 6y ago
This is true. Ill also add the this workism is usually subjected to knowledge work where its more mental than say farming which is mostly physical thus putting a hard limit on what you can on any given day. Theres a cliche quote that goes highlights, at least comically, the sillyness of our lifestyles. "Work everyday for 8 hours to pay for a house you dont own and barely live in, to pay for a car you dont own for 2 hours in traffic everyday."
aidenn0 6y ago
A recent series of posts on a historian's blog[1], stressed that subsistence farmers farmed as little as they could get away with (i.e. enough to feed the family), while the ruling class tried to get them to farm as much as possible (to increase the tax base). 1: https://acoup.blog/ https://acoup.blog/
- throwaway0a5e 6y ago
  "as little as they could get away with" is still a hell of a lot when you don't have a tractor.
  - aidenn0 6y ago
    Roughly a factor of 4 difference though[1]. The article states 5 acres was a typical farm size while an extended family unit with two adult males could farm 20 acres. A later article goes into the fact that tenant-farmers (a.k.a sharecroppers) would keep only 50% of what they farmed compared to 80-90% for non-tenant farmers. 1: https://acoup.blog/2020/07/24/collections-bread-how-did-they-make-it-part-i-farmers/ https://acoup.blog/2020/07/24/collections-bread-how-did-they...