News for hackers. Stuff that matters.

A comment on Why are we still working this hard?. Parent comment

Re:Why are we still working this hard? by snarf21 on Wednesday November 11, 2026 @03:57PM (#50458573)
This is why Keynes' prediction "... that technological progress and rising productivity would lead to a 15-hour workweek (about 3 hours a day) by the year 2030." was so wrong. He couldn't imaging the increase in our demand for standard of living which has becomes a hamster wheel. He just saw that we'd no longer need to grow our own food or collect water or chop wood to stay warm or hand wash clothes or any of the other huge labor needs of the previous century.
[ Parent | on HN ]
Re:Why are we still working this hard? by hdgvhicv on Wednesday November 11, 2026 @04:28PM (#50458943)
Keynes lived less than a century ago when people did it grow their own food, they lived in New York tenements
[ Parent | on HN ]
Re:Why are we still working this hard? by metabagel on Wednesday November 11, 2026 @04:55PM (#50459222)
I would work fewer hours/days if I could. Employers mostly don't like this. Also, working fewer hours could affect my ability to obtain health insurance in the U.S.
[ Parent | on HN ]
Re:Why are we still working this hard? by palata on Wednesday November 11, 2026 @05:03PM (#50459311)
I guess the point is that you cannot work less if the others don't.

If we all agreed to work less (and have less), it would actually work. But as soon as competition enters the game (some people work more and have more)...

[ Parent | on HN ]
Re:Why are we still working this hard? by nerdstomper on Wednesday November 11, 2026 @05:52PM (#50460020)
> I guess the point is that you cannot work less if the others don't.

Ah, damn, that's the catch with everything isn't. As alway, the only winning move appears to be not to play, and to even get to state where you can drop out, you need to play well for at least a while.

[ Parent | on HN ]
Re:Why are we still working this hard? by master_crab on Wednesday November 11, 2026 @05:04PM (#50459322)
He was wrong but not necessarily for this reason.

If anything, it’s many of the basics that have become more expensive. Housing and education are far more expensive today then 100 years ago (as a share of average salary). And some things like health care, while more effective today, definitely absorbs a much higher share of people’s wallets (and the nation’s GDP).

[ Parent | on HN ]
Re:Why are we still working this hard? by proneb1rd on Wednesday November 11, 2026 @05:51PM (#50459992)
Totally. If business can ship more in less time. They won’t stop at 15-hour, they will keep shipping more because competition and hamster wheel. In fact, I feel like the amount of work is actually increasing too…
[ Parent | on HN ]