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Perhaps, and we should continue to work on that, but exploitative and exhausting labor has been an issue for ten millenia or so at least. We may well not see it
by swatcoder 2y ago
Perhaps, and we should continue to work on that, but exploitative and exhausting labor has been an issue for ten millenia or so at least. We may well not see it fixed in our lives.
But the particular failings of the modern western diet are relatively new and might still be remedied or reversed without waiting for the whole labor and exploitation issue to be sorted.
- ethbr1 2y agoThe difference is that the previous methods of exhausting labor provided physical exercise as a side effect. As brutal as that was on the body, it did have some health benefits. In contrast to modern American/Asian work culture, which is high stress and sedentary.
- swatcoder 2y agoWhile there exists a lot of sedentary work in the US and that has consequences, there's still a great deal of physical work done in the US as well, and a very high number of non-working people with plenty of time for personal exercise if they wanted to pursue it. Yet the profound wellness problems we're talking about apply to all of those groups.
- ethbr1 2y agoThe hollowing out of American agriculture and manufacturing employment (sequentially) was a major shift, that moved those employees to sedentary jobs. Optional exercise (after work) is not the same this as mandatory exercise (for work).
- lithocarpus 2y agoThere's some truth there, but no matter how active one is, one can still out-eat the exercise with sugar.
- djaouen 2y ago> which is high stress and sedentary Soon, we might even reach low stress and not back-breaking! *Gasp*!
- bobmcnamara 2y agoSome of us grew up with childhood friends who cleaned the meat plants at night. A practice that continues to this day. You can always tell - they stink of bleach in the morning.
- sydbarrett74 2y agoAnd since the Industrial Revolution, any labour is highly repetitive and therefore leads to RSI.
- optimalsolver 2y agoRecursive self-improvement?
- sydbarrett74 2y agoWitty! But no... Repetitive (Stress/Strain) Injury.
- AngryData 2y agoBefore the industrial age sustained exhausting labor was still a temporary thing reserved for planting and harvest times, and even then you were still deciding your own hours, it was just obviously the most profitable time to put in the most work so people did it.
- black_13 2y ago[dead]
- WalterBright 2y ago> exploitative and exhausting labor That was necessary because of the low productivity of people.
- satvikpendem 2y agoNot sure why you're being downvoted, it is objectively true that people in the past were less productive than today, not necessarily because they were lazier, but because technology has gotten better. It has been the case since civilization started, as we were 99% farmers until we became productive enough to stratify our division of labor, something that every world history student learns.
- sapphicsnail 2y agoWorkers in industrial societies work way more hours than their ancestors did. There's enough resources for people to work less hours.
- s1artibartfast 2y agoWhich goods would you cut out?
- sapphicsnail 2y agoMost people I know spend a lot of time doing unnecessary things for their job. I don't have a magic solution to fix all the bureaucratic bullshit people are subject to but acknowledging it's a problem is a start.
- s1artibartfast 2y agoSure, there are lots of things that are inefficient. I think everyone recognizes that. That doesnt mean there is an obvious and viable alternative.
- _DeadFred_ 2y agoStock buybacks. They serve nothing but short term driving up of profits purely to increase the value of management's stock options. They have no place in the functions/purpose of a healthy stock market.
- s1artibartfast 2y agoHow would that free up worker time while preserving the same amount of physical goods and services available for consumption? Lets say every company stops buybacks, that doesnt mean workers can make more "stuff" with fewer hours.
- satvikpendem 2y agoIt's because the people who say things like the above have no real alternative solution in place and simply say things that sound good in theory (or are even wholly unrelated, as you explained) but fundamentally don't change anything about the world.
- Avshalom 2y agoSurviving to adulthood is also relatively new.