You're outlining the problem but presenting it like an inevitability.

That's why we're in this mess. We see these things as inevitabilities.

You know what that means? We don't control them. So we're going to create a bad situation for ourselves because businesses cannot pull out of a basic game theoretical problem? You think this is OK and not worth looking at? What is even your endgame here?

You are attributing to me approval when all I am doing is describing the problem.

I don't have a good solution given the current economic system.

> You are more than welcome to start your own business with a more relaxed environment, but don’t be surprised when a company with a lower work/life balance puts you out of business.

This quote from your earlier comment comes after you finish "describing the problem".

Taken together, the rhetorical effect is an expression of fatalism. Your formulation accepts the currently destructive state of affairs. It's disingenuous to say "all I am doing is describing the system".

You're describing the system and then subtly suggesting any attempt to improve matters is folly.

EDIT: Fix number agreement in first sentence.

I am not accepting the current state of affairs, I just don’t have a good solution to change it. Neither does the GP, nor anyone else here.

Germany somehow manages to be an economic powerhouse while still having strong employee rights and generous work-life balance as the norm.

Yes, overall work-life balance is certainly better than in other places, but mental health is still an issue here. 13 % of all days absent due to illness are attributed to mental health problems[0]. Especially in jobs, where you have lots of responsibility and pressure for very little material reward -- nurses, geriatric workers, teachers.

[0]: https://www.deutsche-depressionshilfe.de/depression-infos-un...

I would say at least people feel free to take time off for mental health reasons. I worked in the US, and I think people don’t think of stress and mental health as legitimate reasons to miss work. They still take time off for those reasons, but much later when they start to manifest themselves in more physical ways.

It wasn't always like this, so it doesn't always need to be like this. It's just like this now. Assuming it can never be changed or saying that someone "is free to solve it" isn't super helpful. People can recognise things are problems without having the immediate capacity to alter reality to suit the solution.