This article is about much more than working fewer hours. It is about quality of life, for you, your family, your friends. For all people and all living things. It is about what is fair and about right and wrong. It is about all of us taking back control over our own lives.
Almost everyone agrees they would rather work less than 5 days a week. So why don't we? Some wrongly think it isn't possible, that we can't afford it. We can. As noted in
this article, some have actually achieved it. For most of us it is very possible, but
governments, businesses and
corporations ("them") want us working longer hours. Not for our benefit - for theirs!
If you walk around a modern shopping mall today, what do you see? I see a whole lot of stuff that has no use, and a lot of services I have no need for. One way we can work less is to stop wasting our time and money on useless products and services. They are only there in a desperate attempt to take our money. Much of what is at the mall has no value.
As more jobs become automated, be it self-checkout at Home Depot or robots building cars, people are supposed to be working less. But all that is happening is fewer people are working and others are left in the cold.
It is pretty hard to get by in our (or almost any) society without a job. Sometimes the choice comes down to starve or steal! I realize not everyone is a great worker, but on the other hand many good people are having difficulty finding work. We need to fix this. The solution is to
divide up the available work more fairly.
Who Benefits From Our Hard Work
Most of us work and even before we get paid, the government gets a share first. The government does an okay job of making us feel as if we get value from taxes we pay but it isn't true. The value we get from the taxes we pay is much less than it should be. Work less and you will be taxed less.
"The tax system is a very efficient means for the ruling class to finance their standard of living at the expense of the rest of us while claiming to provide some service in return" - James West, The Midas Letter
Many of us work for companies who profit from our work. Typically an employee's labour creates something of value which is sold. Both the employee and the company benefits. But most companies are not concerned with quality of life issues - they just want you to work more hours so they can make more money. Quality of life should come first.
How Do We Work Against Each Other?
Governments and corporations encourage us to work against each other. We compete for higher pay, more prestige, a bigger house (mortgage), etc. They encourage us to look down on people who are less successful. They tell us if we don't work long hours then we must be lazy. It benefits the powers that be but hurts people. Governments and corporations want you to depend on them, that way they can control you.
Governments also use patriotism to encourage prejudice against the people of other countries, but that is a topic for another day.
What About Retirement?
How can a person work only four days a week and still expect to retire? Governments and corporations push the idea of retirement for various reasons, but mostly to get you to work harder and longer now with the promise of taking it easy later. It is better to take those planned retirement days and spread them out throughout your life. Most of the world’s public and private pension plans are in trouble financially. You never know what tomorrow will bring. I take a few weeks of unpaid time off work each year.
Another big problem with trying to save for retirement: central-banks artificially create inflation making it necessary to invest retirement funds in an attempt to keep up with inflation. What a bunch of BS. Tell the banks and the investment houses like Goldman Sacks to go jump off a bridge.
What Can Be Done - Part 1: Inform
The first step is to continually become more informed and educated. The powers that be want to keep you ignorant and dependant. Are you going to just let them?
What Can Be Done - Part 2: Take Action
The second step is to take action. These are just some examples.
Join a union if you can because achieving our goal will require unity. What does the word "union" mean to you, is it a dirty word? The corporate-controlled media has worked very hard to make you believe unions are a bad thing. And they are - for the corporations. The
rich coordinate their efforts: why shouldn’t we?
Join a co-op or start your own non-profit business. Join an environmental group. Grow some of your own food. Get to know your neighbours. Consume less. If you are in the market for a home, don't fall for the McMansion trap; buy something you can afford that was built using fewer resources.
Avoid any support for large companies, this especially includes any support for the corporate-controlled media (Fox News, New York Times, etc.). If you must keep your job at a large company do as little work as possible and encourage others to do the same. Cut back on your hours.
If you have cable or satellite television cancel it, because television is controlled by huge companies (like GE, a weapons maker) and it is the largest source of corporate propaganda. Try to avoid bank-credit as much as you possibly can: think of the interest you pay as a tax.
What Can Be Done - Part 3: Take Control Back
Governments and companies don't tell us what to do we tell them. Representatives, and I use the term loosely, need to know they will not be re-elected if they do not support people's rights. Companies that resist will be boycotted. It is that simple.
Today we have the problem of too many individual groups working separately, but we need to work together. Groups like WWF, Sierra Club, Greenpeace, etc. need to join forces and coordinate their efforts.
The goal of the
Zeitgeist Movement is to put an end to war, poverty, environmental degradation, corruption and injustice. Watch Zeitgeist Addendum to understand how this can all be achieved: but not without your involvement.
Join the Zeitgeist Movement. Take Control. Success of this movement will result in a high quality of life for all, not just the rich.
