5 ms·

History has shown us that as societies get richer / more productive people work less. Here is a graph of this in the US: https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia

by harryh 5y ago

History has shown us that as societies get richer / more productive people work less. Here is a graph of this in the US: https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/2/2e/US_working_hours_1950-2014.png/440px-US_working_hours_1950-2014.png https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/2/2e/US... This makes sense. As people get richer, they use some of their wealth to "purchase" more leisure time. There is no reason to think this won't happen in China, just like it has happened in other places. I think your fear is unfounded.

SquishyPanda23 5y ago
> History has shown us that as societies get richer / more productive people work less. For most of history, when a society gets richer, the rich enslave more people and consolidate power, and then ultimately try to be worshiped as gods until the masses push back enough, and then become content with simply having absolute earthly power. Maybe this trend is over, but given the amount of effort into putting out "God Emperor" memes in the US, my guess is that some people are at least willing to still try at it. At any rate, I'm not sure a graph from the US starting at 1950 is sufficient for establishing historical trends.
- flerchin 5y ago
  I've got my finger on the pulse of spicy memes, and I've never seen a God Emperor one. Is this some kind of Trumpist thing?
- harryh 5y ago
  For most of history, when a society gets richer, the rich enslave more people and consolidate power This is not true. The enormous rise in wealth of the world in the 20th/21st centuries has coincided with large increases in personal freedoms as well. At any rate, I'm not sure a graph from the US starting at 1950 is sufficient for establishing historical trends. The trend is consistent with other datasets: https://ourworldindata.org/working-hours https://ourworldindata.org/working-hours
throwaway769879 5y ago
Who's to say the causation behind this correlation doesn't go the other way? Some people take more free time, think of more efficient ways of working, and get richer. That in turn encourages others to emulate them.
TheCoelacanth 5y ago
I'm skeptical that decline is caused by increasing wealth rather than by demographic changes like women entering the workforce and a larger portion of the population being retirement-aged.

by harryh 5y ago

SquishyPanda23 5y ago

> History has shown us that as societies get richer / more productive people work less. For most of history, when a society gets richer, the rich enslave more people and consolidate power, and then ultimately try to be worshiped as gods until the masses push back enough, and then become content with simply having absolute earthly power. Maybe this trend is over, but given the amount of effort into putting out "God Emperor" memes in the US, my guess is that some people are at least willing to still try at it. At any rate, I'm not sure a graph from the US starting at 1950 is sufficient for establishing historical trends.

flerchin 5y ago
I've got my finger on the pulse of spicy memes, and I've never seen a God Emperor one. Is this some kind of Trumpist thing?
harryh 5y ago
For most of history, when a society gets richer, the rich enslave more people and consolidate power This is not true. The enormous rise in wealth of the world in the 20th/21st centuries has coincided with large increases in personal freedoms as well. At any rate, I'm not sure a graph from the US starting at 1950 is sufficient for establishing historical trends. The trend is consistent with other datasets: https://ourworldindata.org/working-hours https://ourworldindata.org/working-hours

throwaway769879 5y ago

Who's to say the causation behind this correlation doesn't go the other way? Some people take more free time, think of more efficient ways of working, and get richer. That in turn encourages others to emulate them.

TheCoelacanth 5y ago

I'm skeptical that decline is caused by increasing wealth rather than by demographic changes like women entering the workforce and a larger portion of the population being retirement-aged.