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niniane's review against another edition
5.0
Data-based critique of how work evolved in the US in the past century.
Productivity grew several-fold after WW2. It took only 15 hours per week for a worker to produce the same manufacturing output that previously required 40 hours. The country could've allowed everyone to work fewer hours, but instead consumption increased.
The middle class got trapped in a cycle of buying things they don't need, and then working to buy those things.
Europe went down a different path, which is how they now average 30-35 hours per week and 5-6 vacation weeks per year. Yet they have great social welfare systems.
It's cheaper for companies to pay for overwork (even paying time-and-a-half), than to give health insurance and benefits to a second employee. Companies actually want some amount of unemployment in the population, because it gives them more leverage when hiring. When unemployment falls below 4%, it reduces the leverage companies have when hiring.
Productivity grew several-fold after WW2. It took only 15 hours per week for a worker to produce the same manufacturing output that previously required 40 hours. The country could've allowed everyone to work fewer hours, but instead consumption increased.
The middle class got trapped in a cycle of buying things they don't need, and then working to buy those things.
Europe went down a different path, which is how they now average 30-35 hours per week and 5-6 vacation weeks per year. Yet they have great social welfare systems.
It's cheaper for companies to pay for overwork (even paying time-and-a-half), than to give health insurance and benefits to a second employee. Companies actually want some amount of unemployment in the population, because it gives them more leverage when hiring. When unemployment falls below 4%, it reduces the leverage companies have when hiring.
anomie's review
5.0
'Let us not forget that the point of economic growth was to increase wellbeing, not to harm it.'
callareviews's review against another edition
5.0
Is it worth it?( Goodreads Edition)
Amazing book, that forewarned we were heading down the wrong path. If only we had stopped and paid attention then. I wholeheartedly agree with a lot of the contents in this book. I'm glad she brought up bygone eras and lifts the veil of the amount of time they actually spent working.
I like the fact that the author present multiple solutions to this problem. Love the fact that she talks about consumerism. Exceptional that she talks about other nations work ethic and the death rate that occurs because of it. I felt like this mimicked my thoughts exactly. Like does the West really want to work like the chinese and japanese? who HAD to work that hard because of the economic situation they were in. Do we really want the labor practices "imposed" upon other nations? Why do we derive such a sense of pride from working so much that we do not have time for our families, our neighbors or ourselves. What do we get out of it. In my opinion not much and with the current economic crisis we aren't even getting a comfortable lifestyle. We just have work and poverty.
The lack of family leave was something I am also happy she touched upon, because it is utterly ridiculous.
I think its also very relevant to the working crisis we have today. Where there are jobs but people do not want them, as they shouldn't. No one should have to or even want to work somewhere with horrible grueling hours, an unlivable wage, no autonomy, and no healthcare. Slavery much!!!. I do hope we as an American populace can work together, take a stand and say, This way of life is not working. Because my honest opinion is, it is not working, we are far to disconnected from nature, each other, and ourselves. We see this disconnect through excessive amounts of mental disorders, body illness and the overall decline of earth. We have so many problems arising and we need individuals who are not stressed out and depressed because of our societal standards. We need people who can explore and tap into their creativity. You simply cannot do this living the life we live. People NEED freetime to recharge and become creative. We need this creativity now more than ever due to the many crisis and pending crisis we have. Excellent book.
Amazing book, that forewarned we were heading down the wrong path. If only we had stopped and paid attention then. I wholeheartedly agree with a lot of the contents in this book. I'm glad she brought up bygone eras and lifts the veil of the amount of time they actually spent working.
I like the fact that the author present multiple solutions to this problem. Love the fact that she talks about consumerism. Exceptional that she talks about other nations work ethic and the death rate that occurs because of it. I felt like this mimicked my thoughts exactly. Like does the West really want to work like the chinese and japanese? who HAD to work that hard because of the economic situation they were in. Do we really want the labor practices "imposed" upon other nations? Why do we derive such a sense of pride from working so much that we do not have time for our families, our neighbors or ourselves. What do we get out of it. In my opinion not much and with the current economic crisis we aren't even getting a comfortable lifestyle. We just have work and poverty.
The lack of family leave was something I am also happy she touched upon, because it is utterly ridiculous.
I think its also very relevant to the working crisis we have today. Where there are jobs but people do not want them, as they shouldn't. No one should have to or even want to work somewhere with horrible grueling hours, an unlivable wage, no autonomy, and no healthcare. Slavery much!!!. I do hope we as an American populace can work together, take a stand and say, This way of life is not working. Because my honest opinion is, it is not working, we are far to disconnected from nature, each other, and ourselves. We see this disconnect through excessive amounts of mental disorders, body illness and the overall decline of earth. We have so many problems arising and we need individuals who are not stressed out and depressed because of our societal standards. We need people who can explore and tap into their creativity. You simply cannot do this living the life we live. People NEED freetime to recharge and become creative. We need this creativity now more than ever due to the many crisis and pending crisis we have. Excellent book.
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