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This has some reference to living in a post-scarcity society, but obviously we aren't *quite* there yet...
Anyways, look at how even the average income earners live today. We (or they) probably have way better food, drinks, entertainment, medical knowledge, etc at their disposal (minus the harems) than kings of tribes and nations did in the past. A more relevant example would be that we clearly live in a much more advanced society (with respect to Sci+Tech) than our grandparents and their grandparents did. We can fight diseases and mass produce gourmet-like meals, but seem to be living out more and more competitive lives than the generations before us.
The question is, why are we working more hours, and more often burnt-out due to stress? Why are we not setting aside some more time for leisure and other meaningful activities given the level of prosperity there is around us?
This has some reference to living in a post-scarcity society, but obviously we aren't *quite* there yet...
Anyways, look at how even the average income earners live today. We (or they) probably have way better food, drinks, entertainment, medical knowledge, etc at their disposal (minus the harems) than kings of tribes and nations did in the past. A more relevant example would be that we clearly live in a much more advanced society (with respect to Sci+Tech) than our grandparents and their grandparents did. We can fight diseases and mass produce gourmet-like meals, but seem to be living out more and more competitive lives than the generations before us.
The question is, why are we working more hours, and more often burnt-out due to stress? Why are we not setting aside some more time for leisure and other meaningful activities given the level of prosperity there is around us?
Not sure your question(s) is valid.
We live longer.
We live better.
We work less.
We are happier (ever notice no one smiles in old photos?)
We are less stressed.
Because we have defined "virtue" and "work" to be synonymous. The authoritarian forces that have forged out social organization for their own ends have decreed that mere work, regardless of output, is the only measure of earned reward. When no more work needs to be done, the rich and powerful will start handing out shovels, for the hungry and starving to dig holes and fill them back in again, to be paid a pittance for their toil.
The great thinkers who designed machines thought the beauty of the machines was that they would produce consant output with less work. Then followed the great thinkers who amass wealth, who decreed that the beauty of the machine is that it would produce more output with constant work. Constant work. That is the centerpiece of modern human economics.
Most people do not work more than those before them and instead of working for "necessities" like a large screen TV the necessities before were putting food on the table.
My 92 year old Grandmother would find a lot of humor in your post. You think you have stress? Try wondering if you're going to have food on the table to feed 4 kids.
Last edited by thecoalman; 11-28-2011 at 02:43 AM..
Most people do not work more than those before them and instead of working for "necessities" like a large screen TV the necessities before were putting food on the table.
My 92 year old Grandmother would find a lot of humor in your post. You think you have stress? Try wondering if you're going to have food on the table to feed 4 kids.
Hmmm I see what you mean. Then perhaps the question should've been something like, "why are we even stressed today when we have enough prosperity and technology ten times over?" Omitting any reference to the past, of course
Can you omit references to the past if you're trying to compare our modern life to it?
The standard of living has risen for everyone, when my Grandmother was young you weren't going to wear freshly cleaned clothes everyday unless you were rich enough to have someone wash them for you. In addtion to not having a lot of clothes to wash to begin with and it being a lot of work you might be too busy out picking coal for heat, tending to the garden or something else to keep you alive.
In our modern society everyone can have freshly cleaned clothes because of washing machines, poorer people are enjoying a "luxury" only the rich had in the past. The work that someone might do has shifted to nicer things for lack of a better way to put it.
Imagine the stress of some modern day parent trying to tell their teenage daughter they can only wash their two pair of pants and three shirts once a week.
Can you omit references to the past if you're trying to compare our modern life to it?
The standard of living has risen for everyone, when my Grandmother was young you weren't going to wear freshly cleaned clothes everyday unless you were rich enough to have someone wash them for you. In addtion to not having a lot of clothes to wash to begin with and it being a lot of work you might be too busy out picking coal for heat, tending to the garden or something else to keep you alive.
Heh, what I meant was disregard my comparisons with the past, and just focus on the question of today
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