The Case for a 21-Hour Work Week

It would create jobs and stop the unsustainable cycle of rampant consumerism.

By Michael Coren | FAST Company – Wed, Jan 11, 2012

To save the world — or really to even just make our personal lives better — we will need to work less.

Time, like work, has become commodified, a recent legacy of industrial capitalism, where a controlled, 40-hour week in factories was necessary. Our behavior is totally out of step with human priorities and today’s economy. To lay the foundations for a “steady-state” economy — one that can continue running sustainably forever — a recent paper argues that it’s time for advanced developed countries transition to a normal 21-hour work week.

This does not mean a mandatory work week or leisure-time police. People can choose to work as long, or short, as they please. It’s more about resetting social and political norms. That is, the day when 1,092 hours of paid work per year becomes the “standard that is generally expected by government, employers, trade unions, employees, and everyone else.”

The New Economics Foundation (NEF) says there is nothing natural or inevitable about what’s considered a “normal” 40-hour work week today. In its wake, many people are caught in a vicious cycle of work and consumption. They live to work, work to earn, and earn to consume things. Missing from that equation is an important fact that researchers have discovered about most material consumption in wealthy societies: so much of the pleasure and satisfaction we gain from buying is temporary, ephemeral, and mostly just relative to those around us (who strive to consume still more, in a self-perpetuating spiral).

The NEF argues we need to achieve truly happy lives, we need to challenge social norms and reset the industrial clock ticking in our heads. It sees the 21-hour week as integral to this for two reasons: it will redistribute paid work, offering the hope of a more equal society (right now too many are overworked, or underemployed). At the same time, it would give us all time for the things we value but rarely have time to do well such as care for our family, travel, read or continue learning (as opposed to feeding consumerism).

Not to mention, it may be the only way a modern global society won’t overwhelm the earth’s resources. Creating EU-level living standards for the entire world by 2050 would require a six-fold increase in the size of the global economy, with potentially devastating consequences. Instead of growing the economy, maybe we need to recalibrate society to make everyone happier and successful with less.

“The proposed shift towards 21 hours must be seen in terms of a broad, incremental transition to social, economic, and environmental sustainability,” says the NEF in its report.

The challenges are great, none more so than figuring out how to make most of society be able to live on half of their current income. And no doubt, many will seize on this as socialism or worse. Many will object to being told that 21 hours is normal, or 80 hours is too much. But consider what John Maynard Keynes, (whose theories underpin much of the global response to the financial crises), said in 1930 about the goal of future societies. Keynes thought that by the start of the 21st century, we would work only 15 to 21 hours a week, and we would instead focus on “how to use freedom from pressing economic cares.” As NEF writes: “Keynes was wrong in his forecast, but not at all wrong, it seems to us, to envisage a very different way of using time.”

Uncertainty and mystery are the energies of life. Don’t let them scare you unduly, for they keep boredom at bay and spark creativity.

R. I. Fitzhenry

Just thinking that if I kept this as a traditional diary, albeit an online one, it would be mind-numbingly b.o.r.i.n.g.!* That says a lot about my life right now. Don’t get me wrong, dear Diary, I am not complaining…I know 99% of the people who inhabit this world (or some percentage like that) has the same boring day, over and over again, with little injections every so often that could pass as excitement.

And there’s the rub. Life can be boring – if that’s what you choose. But let’s be honest, unless you’re a real risk-taker, if you’re a regular Joe or Jane, it’s not easy to create an exciting life. In my case, finances are the barrier (or the excuse as a risk-taker would tell me).

Alrighty then, I vow to tackle my barrier (money) and do this!

None of us is getting any younger and as for myself, I feel like this boring life is rapidly aging me. Where’s the joy in life, the curiosity, the exploration, the wonder? There is a theory, if you can call it that, that the reason we think time passes so fast as we age, versus the slowness of time when we are young, is because we are not experiencing new things. I think it’s called a rut!

Onward ho!

*Okay, admittedly….the posts here are boring even if they aren’t recitations of my boring day. But at least I’m thinking out loud and saving those thoughts for myself.

P.S. I can’t figure out who R.I. Fitzhenry is (maybe a school teacher?) but whomever he or she is, there are a bunch of really good quotes attributed to him or her on the Internet.

“I do feel like a loner but I think it’s because I look at things differently than other people,” he says. “There’s a quote out of Carl Jung’s autobiography and … he’s talking about when he was a kid and he saw a pattern when he was a kid of aloneness and separateness because he sees things that most people don’t and he wants to talk about them, but most people don’t. 

Exactly!

Never imagined I’d be quoting a football player but this is what Ricky Williams, running back for the Baltimore Ravens, had to say about his loner status among his colleagues.

Reminds me of the fantastic quote by Marilyn Monroe’s character in The Misfits: “If I’m going to be alone, I want to be by myself.” Guess it’s just the way some of us are wired.

Even though I have been a social butterfly most of my years, the truth is, I usually have to force myself to enjoy what others find enjoyable and to talk about the things others want to talk about because hardly anyone wants to talk about what I want to talk about.

So, it shouldn’t be too hard for me to roam alone and meet people along the way. Who knows, I just might have my best conversation ever with a stranger I meet while traveling my lonesome road.

Unless we turn this around and get money out of politics (and to my mind, institute term limits), our democratic republic is o-v-e-r!

So….the movement. Dylan Ratigan, a true hero, started a process only a few months ago to get money out of politics (website: http://www.getmoneyout.com) and hooked onto another movement United Re:public. (http://unitedrepublic.org/). Without going into this since I’m the only one reading this anyway (lol), the movement has a lot of big names backing it and it is generating a lot of steam (closing in on 300,000 signatures on its featured petition). And btw, this movement is absolutely and positively not left or right, liberal or conservative…this is about restoring our democracy!

I am a realist and somewhat (no, very) pessimistic about where this country is headed but I am optimistic about this movement. It’s something I believe in and I am willing to give it my time and energy. And that is saying something because basically I have come to the point where I don’t care because D.C. is just one big charade.

The get money out folks are setting up social networks all over the country, with a goal to organizing and encouraging local political bodies to pass resolutions as Los Angeles did to end corporate “personhood.” Yes it is symbolic but the point is to start from the grass roots and shame…or scare D.C. into doing something (that something as suggested by the get money out campaign is a Constitutional Amendment) about the sorry state of affairs.

Well, I got lost talking to myself here. This all just to say that when I hit the road, I have decided that one of my purposes on the road is going to be pushing the get money out agenda. I’m going to think about how I am going to do that.

To close out the night, I turn my attention to an awesome full moon tonight. Awesome as in definition #1

awe·some

1. inspiring awe.

2. showing or characterized by awe.

3. Slang . Very impressive: That new white convertible is totally awesome.

Everyone raves about their Macs. I have always been a PC user but started thinking I should switch sides. After a little research…well heck yeah, Macs are great – for what they cost, they better be. So, I found this piece by Computer World: “MacBook Air Performs Poorly Compared With Similarly Priced Windows Laptops” tagline: “Lab tests prove that many Windows 7 laptops having a similar price offer better performance than the 2010 MacBook Air models.”

http://www.pcworld.com/article/211930/macbook_air_performs_poorly_compared_with_similarly_priced_windows_laptops.html

Ummm…buying a Mac is like buying a designer label; yeah, it’s well-made, it’s a good product but you are paying a premium for the label. Whew, glad I got that one figured out.

Then I found out more. The latest and greatest for 2012 is the ultrabook. http://www.zdnet.com/blog/mobile-news/2012-year-of-the-ultrabook/5583 The ultrabooks are Intel’s answer to the MacBook Air and the first units are rolling out now.  Their price point is up there, but many are not as expensive as the MacBook but with the same or better specs.

What I didn’t like about the Air was that it had only two USB ports and although there is also a thunderbolt port, the peripherals that are compatible with thunderbolt are expensive. Many of the ultrabooks have a 3.0 and two 2.0 USB ports as well as HDMI etc. I like that. Plus they run on Windows and I have some Windows software still good for a download to a machine or two (e.g. Adobe Professional, MS Office Suite) so that will save me some $$ on software.

Well, after all this boring stuff, the only point is that I decided to hold off another few months in order to wait for all the ultrabooks that are supposedly rolling out. I want to make sure I get the right computer that will serve my needs on the road. I think an ultrabook will be it.

1984 Toyota RV Needs a Loving Home

They are truly wise beyond their years and living wonderfully.  I reached out to them because I saw from their blog that they were in the neighborhood. They graciously allowed me to pepper them with lots of questions about full-time RVing and I think every question I had is now answered. Truly they were an inspiration and boosted my enthusiasm about 1000%.

Their rig is awesome…I don’t know how many sq ft the living space is but probably something around 100 sq. ft. – yet somehow, it has everything that makes a home and without feeling cramped. Their queen sized bed is on the “upper level,” well, it ‘s like a loft and I think that’s the key to the “spaciousness” of the 100 or so square feet. I really like the set-up! It was my first view inside a full-timer’s rig…how exciting!!

It’s so refreshing to see young people who don’t buy into the conventional path … they have plenty of time to “settle down” and when they do, they will know themselves so much better than their peers and for that, they will surely live an examined life.

A few months ago MF Global, a commodities futures broker, went belly up on some really bad (read: stupid) risk trades on European debt. The MF Global story might be the most important story of the year but hardly anyone outside of the finance world knows much about it.

I am not going to rehash it here because well…I already know it. But the upshot is that what happened with MF Global might have just destroyed the commodities futures market in the U.S. and possibly worse.

Ann Barnhardt was a one-woman commodities broker. After MF Global blew up, she closed up her shop because she could not in good conscience continue to tell her (mostly farmer) customers that the commodities futures market was still safe. She believes that the utter corruption, cronyism and flagrant violations of the rule of law that has followed in MF Global’s wake – leaving the little guy holding the bag while protecting the big and well-connected will not only destroy the futures market but all markets. Her belief is shared by many.

Suffice it to say, the story is a bit complicated and Ann Barnhardt does herself no favors in laying out the story with ad hominem attacks and her rhetorical and hyperbolic language (and I have to acknowledge that she is what most would call a “right-wing nut”) ….. but …. what if she’s right correct? Her politics and ideology really shouldn’t have any bearing on whether her particular take on the MF Global fiasco is correct or not.  You can’t deny that she really knows her stuff and she’s really smart.

According to Ms. Barnhardt, it is a mathematical certainty that our financial system is going to blow up and blow up big. She is not one voice in the wilderness, there are many very knowledgeable and well-respected people out there with the same concerns; they just don’t put it as up front and honestly as she does. She goes so far as to advise everyone to get their money out of the big banks and to keep only what is necessary for everyday living in small, closely-held stable banks.

So why do I write this here? Because she just might, just might be right. I want to put it down on “paper” so to speak so that 6 months or a year from now I can look back and remember that I shouldn’t fret too much about the future because no one really knows what it will be. I must carry on with my plans and while I will keep an ear to current events, my path to the freedom of the open road will not be hindered by what might be.

Here’s just a few links about MF Global. There’s tons of stuff out there. It really is some scary stuff. What a disappointment this country has become!

http://market-ticker.org/akcs-www?post=199790

http://www.financialsense.com/financial-sense-newshour/guest-expert/2012/01/04/ann-barnhardt/financial-house-of-cards

It’s very easy not to make choices, not to try new things, not to experience new adventures but to stay comfortable in the life you know. In fact, I think very few people make changes to their lives unless they are forced to. Quite often it takes the loss of a job, or a sudden serious illness, or a divorce, or some other external threat to life as you know it to consider how you are living your life. It is the human condition to live it day in and day out with only incremental changes. Sure, every so often we make a big change like moving to a new house or city or having a kid, but most of our days are spent just like the other.

Versus….roaming, where every day can be different and offer a new adventure.

Okay – it’s a money thing you say? Well, if you can live with less it becomes not as much of a money thing, although no doubt you can’t live on air. I feel almost blessed (although I hate that term) that I just don’t want that much. So giving up the accumulation of junk thing is pretty easy for me.

Harder though is the misunderstandings people have. Heck, living in an RV is to many not any different than being homeless. (Here’s an interesting fact: if you didn’t have a permanent address in Nazi Germany, you were considered an enemy of the state and you had to wear a black badge and you probably ended up dead in a concentration camp.) There are some people in my immediate family to whom I don’t dare tell my plans…they are going to freak out. (Trailer trash is a word that comes to mind.) Kinda sad.

For me, it should be a no-brainer. But no doubt – I am going to over-think this thing to death, which I readily admit is one of my biggest faults. I am convinced that if I just do it, everything will turn to shit and I really will be homeless. And here’s the worse part….those family members I mentioned before will be right.

This guy Glenn, who is a full-time Class B RVer, wrote an entry in his blog http://www.tosimplify.net about doing vs. thinking, it was so full of wisdom.   I need to find that entry and read it every day.  Found it! “Talking vs. Doing” As Glenn would say, this is good stuff.  I think he hit the nail on the head in his last paragraph where he wrote:

Talkers talk because it passes the time while they wait for the full answer to grace their doorstep on a bright, shiny, silver platter. Doers instead jump in, get dirty, try stuff, make mistakes, and just generally keep on keepin’ on. Not because they’re disorganized risk junkies, but because they intuitively know that it’s all a necessary part of the process.

http://www.tosimplify.net/2011/11/talking-vs-doing

So far, so good. Just like a diary, I am the only one, that I am aware of anyway, who is reading this and just like a diary, I use it as my own history book. I like that…maybe 20 years from now, I can go back to these entries and remember. (Hey Lisa in 2032…how’d the adventure turn out?)

But there are two more important reasons that I started this blog:

1) To keep myself honest to my goals and

2) to save myself from a lot of explaining once I begin to achieve those goals.

As to item 2: When certain friends and family ask me why in the world I would choose to live a nomadic life in a little RV with my two cats, I hope I have enough entries here to answer their questions. I suspect I might get tired of answering questions and I do have some family members who are so stuck in a box, they may never get it (and maybe even a few friends like that as well). I reckon all my explaining will have little effect on those folks and I doubt they will take the time to read entries in this blog either. Bells and whistles…they don’t really care anyway; they are just more interested in validating their own lifestyle choices and it is a threat when someone chooses to reject a conforming lifestyle.

Makes me think … at least with the friends who are hostile towards this lifestyle choice, I look forward to replacing them with the people I meet on the road.