Before anyone points out that everyone died at 25 or something like that, the low life expectancy had a lot to do with child and infant mortality. If you made it to adulthood, you had a decent chance of making to to 50 or 60, which isn’t a modern life span, but it’s better than most people realize.
And, as you point out, you spent more of your time living rather than just working. If I had almost twice the time with my loved ones while I was young, that might be a decent tradeoff for losing ten or twenty years later one.
My company pushed for us to do 1,920 billable hours per year to meet our bonus goals. TIL I work significantly more than a medieval peasant.
It’s perverse that we had nearly exponential growth in automation since the industrial revolution, yet people are still working harder than ever. What is the point of having automation if it’s not directed toward reducing the amount of labour people have to do in order to just exist.
My only issue with the article is the reference to America as a first-world country. Crumbling and non-existent transportation infrastructure, a desperate workforce who can’t survive on the wages they’re paid, unaffordable housing, groceries, education and healthcare, and every day adults and children are getting shot by their community members. How can the US still be labeled “first-world”?
Transitioning to second world is more like it.
Exactly we haven’t (if ever) been a first world country.
