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The Economist - Why is everyone so busy?
The predictions sounded like promises: in the future, working hours would be short and vacations long. “Our grandchildren”, reckoned John Maynard Keynes in 1930, would work around “three hours a day”—and probably only by choice. Economic progress and technological advances had already shrunk working hours considerably by his day, and there was no reason to believe this trend would not continue. Whizzy cars and ever more time-saving tools and appliances guaranteed more speed and less drudgery in all parts of life. Social psychologists began to fret: whatever would people do with all their free time?
This has not turned out to be one of the world’s more pressing problems. Everybody, everywhere seems to be busy. In the corporate world, a “perennial time-scarcity problem” afflicts executives all over the globe, and the matter has only grown more acute in recent years, say analysts at McKinsey, a consultancy firm. These feelings are especially profound among working parents. As for all those time-saving gizmos, many people grumble that these bits of wizardry chew up far too much of their days, whether they are mouldering in traffic, navigating robotic voice-messaging systems or scything away at e-mail—sometimes all at once.
(Score: 5, Interesting) by forsythe on Friday December 26 2014, @02:10AM
I have heard it said that, if you want to, you can live at a 1950s-level lifestyle on two days of work a week. But you have to actually live at a level approximate to a 1950s-level lifestyle, which means things like no internet, reliance on radio and libraries, accepting 1950s-level healthcare, and so on.
The problematic bits come with finding automobiles or other continuously-updated goods that fit into that scenario. Clearly you can't afford a vintage Thunderbird on sixteen hours of work a week. I believe the analysis I read (which I cannot find again settled that by allowing 20-30 year old used cars in reasonable condition, with the reasoning that the wear and tear (if not excessive) was matched by the advances in technology. The end result was something which could be argued to have all the conveniences that people enjoyed half a century ago, but (surprise!) most people don't want to live like that today.
So I think you're correct in that the ultimate cause of this is greed, but not about unrealistic expectations of continued growth. I'm not going to argue that we don't have unrealistic expectations of growth, just that that's not the reason predictions of massive leisure time failed to come about. We're still working hard today because there was growth, expected or not, and we (greedily) want the benefits of that growth.
(Score: 5, Interesting) by tibman on Friday December 26 2014, @03:19AM
Was going to say something similar. You can work only a few hours a day and happily live just like people in the 1930s. Have a garden, repair your car, build your own furniture, barter with the neighbors, and so on.
Consumer products were rugged back then too. Parts often failed but the device was very repairable. Manuals even had circuit diagrams and repair/maintenance instructions intended for the end-user. These days the manual goes straight into the trash. If you ever need to read the manual then you should probably just buy a new device.
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(Score: 5, Insightful) by danomac on Friday December 26 2014, @04:28PM
I have my grandfather's old radio (shortwave and AM - a Nordmende 8015 [radiomuseum.org] although mine is in much better shape than that one!) that has the original manual. You are correct, it has a full circuit diagram and troubleshooting tips. Troubleshooting tips in manuals nowadays (if they even exist) are basically turn it off and on again, if it doesn't work call for support. And everyone knows how the call for support goes.
(Score: 2) by tibman on Friday December 26 2014, @04:34PM
Nice radio! I'm jealous : )
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(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Friday December 26 2014, @05:45PM
I like your sig.