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Working hours were reduced only in the 20th century, and mainly then due to the influence of unions. There was very little reduction prior to this era - basical
by ds9 13y ago
Working hours were reduced only in the 20th century, and mainly then due to the influence of unions. There was very little reduction prior to this era - basically it was dawn to dusk on farms, then with the industrial revolution, dawn to dusk or even longer in factories, mines and other industries.
Reformers have always argued, "New tech lets us produce the same output with less work, so let's have more leisure time" - but capital owners see it instead as an opportunity to work their employees (serfs, proletarians, then "at will" employees) the same hours and make more money.
- Roboprog 13y agoPost Reagan era politics did a pretty good job at obliterating unions, AND, burying the history of the first half of the 20th century, eh? The problem as I see it with either a communist welfare state or feudalism is that either extreme provides little incentive for most people to be creative/inventive, as there is little to gain for them. Alas, we seem to be swinging toward a kind of corporate feudalism, at least in the US.