No, I'm talking about the brain-dead 40 hour week that everyone is supposed to work for the rest of time, despite the fact that machines are doing most of the hard physical work now. Anything that is repetitive will be taken over by robots, that's just a fact. You can work the hardest of anyone, but if you are getting low wages for it, then what is the point? There are plenty of people around the world who are well off without working all year long. Casual and part-time work just generally makes more sense in today's world. Doesn't matter where I've worked, I can tell you most full-time employees don't have enough work to fill in their days. The only reason it's still so prevalent is because we are stuck in this paradigm. The government and it's banking system is based on assumptions made 60 years ago and there have been no fundamental changes and it just isn't working anymore. It made sense at the end of WW2, but so many institutions have been built up around it that benefit from it that it seems we needed the crisis to force the necessary changes. Don't get stuck thinking the world will be pretty much as you always knew it. People who do that end up getting thought of as dinosaurs. Wage slave thinking. But Marx was fond of that. The whole worker's paradise thing. In fact, that's what we largely got in Western society. A type of Marxian socialism.
^ I was going to say something similar but you put it much better than I would of I think. There's also a big difference between filling your hours with work because you enjoy it and/or are striving for something better versus filling yous hours with mind numbing, very repetitative and/or dangerous work because it is necessary. I see far more of the former as societies get richer.
No actually you are talking shit hawkeye. There are so many stupid things wrong with your post that I can't begin to address them and I am absolutely aghast that you would even think that way, and bordsilver thanked you for that? FFS. But I'll give it a go. Just give me time.
Who does that? Most workers I would argue. And you value that sort of work less just because it happens to you to be brain dead????? What constitutes brain dead work hawkeye? Essential services, waitressing, storeman and packers, chefs, grader operators??? Are you saying everyone should be a nuclear scientist or a sculptor?? What would happen if no one was available to do the brain dead 40 hour week?? Answer: your world would collapse hawkeye. Tomorrow. You're lucky we have little yellow men in factories in Asia doing most of the brain dead work for you so you can buy cheap plasma TV's and colour depth sounders. Are you a member of the Entitlement Cadre? The point is you work as hard as you can in your position given your skills level and experience, if that doesn't satisfy you, move on. Who are they hawkeye? Amazonian Indians? The Innuit? The Rothschilds? My paradigm is completely opposite to that which you seem to be preaching in your post. I'm not making any assumptions, you are though, talking about brain-dead occupations, working hard and not getting any reward and how there are so many people around the world who are so better off who don't have to work so hard compared to us I presume. At what point did I say the world will remain pretty much as I knew it, say when I was a child in the 70's? I didn't. Go to any party, and the first thing that someone asks you is: "What do you do for a living?". Marx nailed it, but we can't use that four letter word here with all these Austrian Economists can we??? There are few things in our lives that give us pleasure, paramount amongst them are our relationships with our loved ones and our work. Yet you seem too easily willing to dismiss one of the two, our work. Why? Just because it was one of the things that one of our most influential philosophers nailed correctly for once? Just because Marx said it, it must be wrong. Your post was one of the most disappointing things I've ever read.
lol I'l give it a go The 40 hour week will give anyone on a basic hourly rate enough money to pay their bills & eat ,anything less & there would be many more on the poverty line . Theres many jobs that cant & will never be done by machines . If youve ever done a decent days work in many industries you would know that .(obviously said by an IT veteran .)So your "most hard work " should be "a very small percentage " & you should have said "most hard work will be done in large companies that have enough money to buy those machines ." you can work hard but what is the point ? The point is you will be the first in line for a promotion or a pay rise .& go home knowing you done your best in whatever you do . This thinking is what burns me up ...If your good at something it usually carries over into other things in your life . There are plenty of people working who are well off & not working all year long Im sure they started by working year long . There would be very few who have the luxury of not working full time that can afford to have a decent lifestyle & feed their family & pay the mortgage . Sounds like your a single guy with no kids & no mortgage . Casual & part time makes more sense ? Yeah if your lazy & have no bills or family to support Most full time employees dont have enough to fill their days ?... Man you got to get out from behind that keyboard & get a real job thats just bullshit . Stuck in a pradigm ? yeah its called reality . It isnt working ? Try telling china that whos workers work far more than 40 hours a week look at the production that comes out of that country. So that 60 year old thinking is still relevant today no matter if your a country or an individual .
^ Now that I (think) I understand where you are coming from I think we're all on the same page but attacking the same "meaning of life" vs "necessity of life" questions from different trajectories. I'm too tired (from work) to try to word this properly but I see "work" as the necessary thing needed to allow people to live - which in a division of labour society means being paid so that you can trade your fruits for other peoples fruits. As I said, Historically this was back breaking/dangerous/mind numbing really shitty work that no-one "wanted" to do. More and more people are getting the choice to do and/or to strive for something better (eg many computer nerds can happily spend the whole day programming; many service industry people enjoy providing services (albeit probably prefer less hours and more pay); many TV-industry actors/artists enjoy what they create etc). Saying that however, as like-minded stackers we all recognise the financial repression and leaching off the average persons labour that exists because we don't have sound money. And i think i've gone off on a tangent to the main topic but i'm tapping this in on my damn titchy phone so that'll do.
No surprise they just followed Cyprus' lead in facilitating the sequestration of depositors' cash then eh? Switzerland... that bastion of opaque Bilderbergiana, home to stolen Nazi cash & gold, Russki proceeds of state theft, bribery & Putin-endorsed mafia corruption, undeclared cash accounts & an infinite number of anonymous dodgy deposit boxes... Snafu'd... But the trains are spotless... you could eat your dinner off 'em...
Another Peter Schiff article on the same topic (largely the same content as the opening post but presented differently - can't emphasise this topic enough though). Had the same discussion with someone just last week about a country on a sound money standard experiencing currency appreciation and deflation. The horror
