Comment by toomuchtodo | Hacker News Reader

Comment by toomuchtodo | Hacker News Reader

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> What would people spend that excess on if they had it?

Humans do not exist to be extracted from for their basic needs imho, which is how the current system is configured, so this is not an excuse to keep extraction systems in place. Give humans a 4 day work week if the argument is "what else would you spend this money on?" with the excess. Humans do not exist for the profits of others, again, imho. I understand others have different opinions on this topic.

https://4dayweek.com/ | https://workfour.org/ | https://hn.algolia.com/?dateRange=all&page=0&prefix=true&que...

It might even help with the cratering fertility rate across the developed world.

https://wtfhappenedin1971.com/

https://thezvi.substack.com/p/fertility-roundup-5-causation

"What if we put all of this effort in and all that happens is people live better lives!?" sounds...silly, no?

>Humans do not exist for the profits of others

They don't, but they voluntarily take the risk trade-off. If you are the profit of someone else, it also means you are the liability of someone else.

Working for someone else has become so prevalent and so much the norm, that people have completely lost sight of the downsides of working for yourself.

It's not at all surprising that people opt for steady paycheck over erractic income and full liability for their mistakes/short-comings (despite the allure of fully reaping the upside). I've seen dudes making $40k/yr destroy $500k of product and still get their paycheck the following week.

What you think others should do it not relevant. The question is what will they do.

If someone wants a 5 day work week and a larger house instead of a 4 day work week who are you to force them to do otherwise? It is perfectly possible to get a 2 or 3 day work week if you want - most jobs won't offer it, but the possibility exists if you are willing for the sacrifices - most are not (though it isn't clear if they even realize the option exist)

If most jobs won't offer it, that is a problem to fix. These are just arbitrary rules, after all (in the US, the official per week work hours codified in federal statute). They can be changed. It is not an option if most cannot obtain it, or it is not easy to obtain it. We have different mental models on the topic, that's all.

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