>How are those same politicians going to feel about cranking the work week back to 20 hours and tripling the minimum wage to make everything balance out?

They will feel how the people tell them to feel (ideally).

Now, the real problem, how to change people's minds?

I see that as a job well suited to HN frequenters: intelligent, imaginative, creative people need to take their responsibility as harbingers seriously and evangelize for a better future. Smack one molecule at a time and eventually the whole pot boils. Show people that the way things are done are not necessarily how they must be done. As a group, we've done a pretty good job in certain areas but I definitely see a lot of reluctance to tackle macro-social problems with the same zeal as attacking other historical accidents that impede progress like Uber taking on cab companies.

It's tricky, sure, but its all in our collective head.