This is the saddest thing. Not only have we set up this system of living, but we've also acclimated to it, in the manner of Stockholm Syndrome, to the point whe

This is the saddest thing. Not only have we set up this system of living, but we've also acclimated to it, in the manner of Stockholm Syndrome, to the point where many reflexively defend it and excoriate those who propose living differently. [And of course 40 hours/week is totally arbitrary! It wasn't determined by science or principle (a nice round multiple of 10 like that (in our arbitrary time units of 24-day hours and 7-day weeks)...). It's just the milepost the labor movement happened to get to before, for other reasons, ceasing to exist as a force of note. Before the standardization of the 40 hour workweek, you could surely hear perfectly analogous arguments for the objective naturality of the 50, or 60, or whatever, hour workweek as you would now for 40.]