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What’s wrong with work and life — and why.
For the vast majority of people, our time and therefore our lives are spent doing paid labor. We work to live.
Human beings require food and protection from the elements to stay alive. Unless a person is born to sufficient wealth, or is cared for by someone with sufficient wealth, nearly every human literally has the same choice — work for money or die.
Now, people typically strive for more than bare subsistence — usually a lot more. Whether it’s by comparing oneself to others or the influence of corporate marketing or simply absorbing the psychology of our consumer culture, once a person has enough money, she/he/they usually strive for more.
This potentially boundless desire for more can be seen as the engine for capitalism, progress and the free market.
Hidden in all of this is an unstated compulsion and systemic manipulation. We work more and more to meet this desire for more than is needed. This might be fine except that one option is essentially off the table. And that is the option of working fewer hours.
Nearly every job that offers fewer hours — that is, part time employment — offers less money than is required for subsistence. It’s very rare that you can live off of a part-time job. That…
