> Individual self-reliance and coping only goes so far. I think OP's thesis is that this is a larger cultural issue of capitalism increasingly squeezing every once of joy out of people's lives, and demanding more labour from fewer people under dehumanizing conditions.

Yes. The US lost the general pattern of an 8 hour day, a 40 hour week, time and a half for overtime, and employment duration measured in decades. Most people can handle that.

Most people cannot handle 996 work, "clopeners"[1], and "side hustles" for long.

That's really it. The US just needs to get back to what were normal labor practices from the 1950s to the 1970s.

The key item here is paid overtime at a higher rate. That makes it uneconomic to have people at work too long. It's cheaper to hire an additional person.

"Eight hours for work, eight hours for rest and eight hours for what you will." - Knights of Labor, 1888.

[1] https://calchamberalert.com/2023/04/14/clopening-schedules-g...