3 Hours a Day
The End of Rational Capitalism The 15 hour work week suits me just fine. Maybe I should sleep in for the next 25 years. |
11 Comments
Leave a Reply
[Grant] Gobierno Abierto América Latina
This blog post is a summary of a $25,000 grant from Omidyar Network to the Mexican Institute for Competitiveness to support the convening of Latin American transparency networks in Mexico City on March 20, 2012 to discuss the opportunities, challenges,
[Grant] Gobierno Abierto América Latina
This blog post is a summary of a $25,000 grant from Omidyar Network to the Mexican Institute for Competitiveness to support the convening of Latin American transparency networks in Mexico City on March 20, 2012 to discuss the opportunities, challenges,
[Philanthropy] Stay Human
I hesitantly decided to become involved in philanthropy because I believe that civil society has an important role to play in bringing about a more sustainable, just, and well governed 21st century society. Businesses and governments have their fundamental roles
[Philanthropy] Stay Human
I hesitantly decided to become involved in philanthropy because I believe that civil society has an important role to play in bringing about a more sustainable, just, and well governed 21st century society. Businesses and governments have their fundamental roles
Fiscal Transparency (is Not Enough)
OpenSpending.org has simple goal that is extraordinarily difficult to achieve: wherever you may live, you enter in how much you earn per month, press a button, and poof, a stunning visualization of where your tax money goes. Let’s say I’m
Fiscal Transparency (is Not Enough)
OpenSpending.org has simple goal that is extraordinarily difficult to achieve: wherever you may live, you enter in how much you earn per month, press a button, and poof, a stunning visualization of where your tax money goes. Let’s say I’m
Niños Incomodos and Video for Advocacy in Mexico
Last month I caught an interesting tweet from Alejandro Ramírez, the CEO of the 4th largest cinema chain in the entire world: Ramírez was celebrating the fact that De Panzazo, an excellent documentary about the state of the country’s education
Niños Incomodos and Video for Advocacy in Mexico
Last month I caught an interesting tweet from Alejandro Ramírez, the CEO of the 4th largest cinema chain in the entire world: Ramírez was celebrating the fact that De Panzazo, an excellent documentary about the state of the country’s education
Helping Politicians Keep Their Promises
Politicians love to make promises. Here in Mexico, presidential contender Enrique Peña Nieto even spent the morning of the first official day of campaigning at a public notary’s office where he signed his name next to his first three campaign
Helping Politicians Keep Their Promises
Politicians love to make promises. Here in Mexico, presidential contender Enrique Peña Nieto even spent the morning of the first official day of campaigning at a public notary’s office where he signed his name next to his first three campaign
[Report] Parliamentary Power to the People
Brazil-based transparency and freedom of information scholar Greg Michener has authored the first major report on the use of online platforms to understand and monitor parliaments in Latin America. Commissioned by the Open Society Foundations, “Parliamentary Power to the People,”
[Report] Parliamentary Power to the People
Brazil-based transparency and freedom of information scholar Greg Michener has authored the first major report on the use of online platforms to understand and monitor parliaments in Latin America. Commissioned by the Open Society Foundations, “Parliamentary Power to the People,”
Transparently Advocating for Transparency
Update: I have removed the “within 15 days of the signing of a grants agreement” from the commitment. For a variety of reasons it may not be possible to publish the related information so soon after the agreement has been
Transparently Advocating for Transparency
Update: I have removed the “within 15 days of the signing of a grants agreement” from the commitment. For a variety of reasons it may not be possible to publish the related information so soon after the agreement has been
Back to My Printing Press
I started blogging at el-oso.net in December 2003. I didn’t expect it to last long; mostly I wanted to keep a travel diary for a road trip around Mexico, and I figured, why not keep it on the Internet? Several
Back to My Printing Press
I started blogging at el-oso.net in December 2003. I didn’t expect it to last long; mostly I wanted to keep a travel diary for a road trip around Mexico, and I figured, why not keep it on the Internet? Several
Conference-Slutting Toward Good Governance
2012 looks a lot like a convenient excuse for the Latin American diplomatic jet set to rack up their American Express rewards points while in Cartagena, Brasilia, Puerto Vallarta, Los Cabos, Rio de Janeiro and elsewhere. Looking through a less
Conference-Slutting Toward Good Governance
2012 looks a lot like a convenient excuse for the Latin American diplomatic jet set to rack up their American Express rewards points while in Cartagena, Brasilia, Puerto Vallarta, Los Cabos, Rio de Janeiro and elsewhere. Looking through a less
The Carlsbad Marathon
It was about five o’clock in the morning when Cindylu, with her sweet little voice — all chamomile and honey — says, “Oso, you should probably put some vaseline in your butt crack.” That’s when I knew I was in
The Carlsbad Marathon
It was about five o’clock in the morning when Cindylu, with her sweet little voice — all chamomile and honey — says, “Oso, you should probably put some vaseline in your butt crack.” That’s when I knew I was in
As it has always been for those against free markets and capitalism, the “problem” still remains: how do we punish those who’d want to work 4 hours a day?
Instilling mediocrity into such an upwardly-striving and innovative species as our own is tough.
It was three hours a day Derek.
Actually, if you want to get by on 15 hours a week you probably already could. Of course this would mean living a life with a standard of living comparable to 100 years ago when the average person made less than $4000 in today’s dollars. Working 15 hours a week at $5.12 an hour (wages unheard of at the time) puts you right about there.
But obviously that standard of living would mean no iPods, no blogs, no cell phones, no cars, no flights to Mexico, and no non-fat caramel lattes. Not to mention that back then there were no cures for things like polio, tuberculosis, and whooping cough which killed both rich and poor.
People work more for a reason, we gain more from wages than we lose in leisure time. Of course everyone is free to determine that cut-off for themselves, but I think I know what life you would prefer Oso.
It’s the non-fat caramel lattes that I wouldn’t be able to give up.
In that case make it 15 and a half hours a week and you are set…
I understood you, Oso. I’m saying the anticapitalists won’t have a problem when 3 hour workdays are the standard if they penalize sufficiently those who’d want to work 4 hours (or more), and [gasp] produce more goods/research longer/write longer/create longer/earn more money.
Perhaps make a law that says any hours worked longer than 3 and your pay will not only be distributed to the proletariat, but you will be docked pay for being a rightist deviationist and an enemy of the people.
Derek, my apologies. I blame the 40 hour work week for not allowing enough time to practice my reading comprehension. Anyway, yes, docking pay seems like a pretty sound solution for those god damned work horses.
Or better, we could force them to do something completely unproductive like weblogging.
i currently only work four hours a day, four or five days out of the week and i really like it. i left a full-time job with benefits last november and my income is now a fourth of what it used to be. i don’t get to spend my money on four dollar lattes anymore but its okay i have my life back–more time to be creative and the luxury to do nothing if i feel like it. sadly the situation that the excerpt describes above sounds too ideal to ever be achieved, i don’t think we are ever going to be faced with too much leisure time.
Four dollar lattes are all about the media trying to lead you around by the nose. Instead you should lead yourself around by the nose. You are much better off starting your own business and working the number of hours you want to work. It’s also good for society – you set a good example.
Pingback: El Oso, El Moreno, and El Abogado » Blog Archive » Against Populism
Pingback: El Oso, El Moreno, and El Abogado » Blog Archive » Against Populism