The average American works from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m, eight hours, five days a week, forty-seven weeks a year, assuming generous holidays and PTO. A medieval peasant, by contrast, worked alternating days of nine hours and three hours, with two to three days fully off, and enjoyed nearly half of the year off. The truth is that we have worked more in the last four hundred years than we have in the other four and a half thousand years of human history. Why? Well, to find the answer, we have to examine the history of work itself, and where it all went wrong
Stone and bronze age societies varied considerably, with many unique cultural differences, such as their architecture, cuisine, religions, and day to day practices. There were a few things that DID stay constant, however. No matter their location or context, these early societies tended to divide up time into chunks of roughly 30 minutes. People arrived upon this value in a number of ways; the time it takes for the sun to reach a certain height from dawn, the time it takes to complete a certain task, the time it takes for a wet object to dry, the time it takes to walk a distance; but the value was always close to 30 minutes. These societies also tended to define the working hours in these chunks of 30 minutes: an average of eight to twelve of them per day was customary. They also tended to work in bursts, fast then slow, perhaps a day of eight hours of work and then another day with only two.
Things didn’t change much all the way up to the medieval period. Although the economic system had changed considerably, from the primitive form of communism and general tribal collectivism of the stone age to feudalism. Feudalism dictated that the peasants would work the land and give up a portion of their harvest to their lords, and in return they would get to keep some of the harvest and would receive protection from their lord and his army. Although this arrangement was much more authoritarian than the primitive communism of stone age tribes, the amount of work remained roughly the same; only increasing to 6-8 hours a day on average, with pretty much the entire winter off for housework, and copious other breaks such as 3 day weekends. The truth was, only as work was done as needed to be completed. What didn’t change between communism and feudalism was the end goal: to keep everyone fed. In tribal societies, this meant simply everyone in the tribe. In feudal societies, this meant the peasants, the army, the lords, the artisans, and the clergy. But once everyone was fed, there simply was not a need for overproduction; the demands of society had been met. Of course, not every year was a good year, and droughts or conflict could cause production to run short, and for people to starve. However, the peasants simply collected their harvests every year, and when the needs of society had been filled, they celebrated with full bellies. They didn’t work extra because there simply was no need to, and to overexert yourself fruitlessly seemed simply foolish.
Although the predecessors of capitalist institutions had long existed in human history, capitalism as a fully fledged economic system only really started taking hold in the 16th century, especially in Europe and its new acquired colonies. There are a few reasons this happened: the events of the 14th century (the mongol invasion, a massive famine, the black death, a schism in the catholic church, the lowering of global temperatures leading to crop failure) led to tensions between the lords and the peasantry, and moving land into private ownership with a landless working class to plow was a way to ensure the safety of the aristocracy. Colonialism led to the establishment of joint-stock companies to help conquer new lands for the mother country, which were privately owned and of which shares could be bought and sold, leading to the first stock/share markets. On top of this, new technological advances in steam power and coal were leading to the dawn of the Industrial Revolution, especially in Great Britain, the largest of the colonial powers. All of this was the perfect combination for the creation of modern industrial capitalism.
One of the innovations of this period most important to our discussion is that of the mechanical clock. Means to measure periods of time had long existed, such as sundials and hourglasses. However, the mechanical clock made measuring minutes and hours of the day an exact science. So, when industrial capitalists built their factories, they brought clocks with them, now able to precisely time the working day. Gone was the leisure and lax environment work had been characterized by previously, where workers slowly filtered in and out of the work day, and work was a low intensity activity often interrupted by chatter, conversation, and frequent breaks. Instead, employers punished workers that showed up too late or left too early, and discouraged any sort of conversation between workers to maximize efficiency. The number of hours in a workday quickly became a statistic of productivity that employers maximized by any means possible. Why the obsession with efficiency and productivity? Well, suddenly, working their employees as efficiently and productively as possible became very important to employers due to the advent of the stock market. The employers had a corporate duty to their shareholders, and working less essentially meant conceding to their competitors, which would lead to their eventual demise.
It's plausible that you inferred this article would be another “it’s capitalism’s fault” piece, and if so, congratulations; here’s a gold star. Although we today may not work in the textile factories of 18th century England, we are still using their rubbish economic system. We need a new economic system in which we do not work excessive amounts. The amount of time we dedicate to work could instead be dedicated to arts, leisure, and socialization, and thus the proliferation of a happier and more humanistic society, where life is not a chore to live through but instead a gift bestowed upon us. I am not advocating for a return to feudalism, or even the primitive form of communism; these systems indeed have other flaws. Rather, I advocate for a modern form of socialism that learns from the successes and failures of previous economic systems and allows for an age where low amounts of work and technology may co-exist. One thing is for sure though: The industrial capitalism we have that arose in the 18th century must be done away with.
Things didn’t change much all the way up to the medieval period. Although the economic system had changed considerably, from the primitive form of communism and general tribal collectivism of the stone age to feudalism. Feudalism dictated that the peasants would work the land and give up a portion of their harvest to their lords, and in return they would get to keep some of the harvest and would receive protection from their lord and his army. Although this arrangement was much more authoritarian than the primitive communism of stone age tribes, the amount of work remained roughly the same; only increasing to 6-8 hours a day on average, with pretty much the entire winter off for housework, and copious other breaks such as 3 day weekends. The truth was, only as work was done as needed to be completed. What didn’t change between communism and feudalism was the end goal: to keep everyone fed. In tribal societies, this meant simply everyone in the tribe. In feudal societies, this meant the peasants, the army, the lords, the artisans, and the clergy. But once everyone was fed, there simply was not a need for overproduction; the demands of society had been met. Of course, not every year was a good year, and droughts or conflict could cause production to run short, and for people to starve. However, the peasants simply collected their harvests every year, and when the needs of society had been filled, they celebrated with full bellies. They didn’t work extra because there simply was no need to, and to overexert yourself fruitlessly seemed simply foolish.
Although the predecessors of capitalist institutions had long existed in human history, capitalism as a fully fledged economic system only really started taking hold in the 16th century, especially in Europe and its new acquired colonies. There are a few reasons this happened: the events of the 14th century (the mongol invasion, a massive famine, the black death, a schism in the catholic church, the lowering of global temperatures leading to crop failure) led to tensions between the lords and the peasantry, and moving land into private ownership with a landless working class to plow was a way to ensure the safety of the aristocracy. Colonialism led to the establishment of joint-stock companies to help conquer new lands for the mother country, which were privately owned and of which shares could be bought and sold, leading to the first stock/share markets. On top of this, new technological advances in steam power and coal were leading to the dawn of the Industrial Revolution, especially in Great Britain, the largest of the colonial powers. All of this was the perfect combination for the creation of modern industrial capitalism.
One of the innovations of this period most important to our discussion is that of the mechanical clock. Means to measure periods of time had long existed, such as sundials and hourglasses. However, the mechanical clock made measuring minutes and hours of the day an exact science. So, when industrial capitalists built their factories, they brought clocks with them, now able to precisely time the working day. Gone was the leisure and lax environment work had been characterized by previously, where workers slowly filtered in and out of the work day, and work was a low intensity activity often interrupted by chatter, conversation, and frequent breaks. Instead, employers punished workers that showed up too late or left too early, and discouraged any sort of conversation between workers to maximize efficiency. The number of hours in a workday quickly became a statistic of productivity that employers maximized by any means possible. Why the obsession with efficiency and productivity? Well, suddenly, working their employees as efficiently and productively as possible became very important to employers due to the advent of the stock market. The employers had a corporate duty to their shareholders, and working less essentially meant conceding to their competitors, which would lead to their eventual demise.
It's plausible that you inferred this article would be another “it’s capitalism’s fault” piece, and if so, congratulations; here’s a gold star. Although we today may not work in the textile factories of 18th century England, we are still using their rubbish economic system. We need a new economic system in which we do not work excessive amounts. The amount of time we dedicate to work could instead be dedicated to arts, leisure, and socialization, and thus the proliferation of a happier and more humanistic society, where life is not a chore to live through but instead a gift bestowed upon us. I am not advocating for a return to feudalism, or even the primitive form of communism; these systems indeed have other flaws. Rather, I advocate for a modern form of socialism that learns from the successes and failures of previous economic systems and allows for an age where low amounts of work and technology may co-exist. One thing is for sure though: The industrial capitalism we have that arose in the 18th century must be done away with.