This might be also at play with our inability to work less. We have increased our productivity so much with innovation of the past 100 years but also increased our consumption so that we need to keep working for 40-50 hours per week to keep it going.
In fact, David Graeber in his book Bullshit Jobs argues that most people are working just so that protests do not erupt. Many are working 60/70 hour weeks because far to many are hardly adding any value to the economy. Eg. A day trader - If all day traders disappeared from Earth, the rest of the people would not even feel it.
Well, day traders are speculators, they don't claim to provide added value, if I'm not mistaken.
But even if we assume that everybody is paid fairly, it is undoubtedly so that we produce much more than we did 100 years ago. Our living standard is much higher now, but working hours are not lower. So all the productivity gains went into raising the living standard not into working less.
This might be also at play with our inability to work less. We have increased our productivity so much with innovation of the past 100 years but also increased our consumption so that we need to keep working for 40-50 hours per week to keep it going.
In fact, David Graeber in his book Bullshit Jobs argues that most people are working just so that protests do not erupt. Many are working 60/70 hour weeks because far to many are hardly adding any value to the economy. Eg. A day trader - If all day traders disappeared from Earth, the rest of the people would not even feel it.
Well, day traders are speculators, they don't claim to provide added value, if I'm not mistaken.
But even if we assume that everybody is paid fairly, it is undoubtedly so that we produce much more than we did 100 years ago. Our living standard is much higher now, but working hours are not lower. So all the productivity gains went into raising the living standard not into working less.