I hate this work obsessed culture, it's killing damn near every aspect of our lives. Socially, emotionally, mentally, spiritually. I'm glad more people are talking about it finally.
it's not a culture....it's imposed by the upper class on the lower classes to keep them busy and not looking into their business. to keep people tired and only think about their own (financial) safety.
I agree since we need to be in the golden middle where we work hard enough to get things done, but still have time to enjoy life rather than making work our entire lives.
After I graduated and up until I had kids. I would work for about two or three years. Then quit, take a year off and live of my savings. Then I would take a new job and repeat the process. You can never imagine how many people have rolled their eyes at this way of living. You are supposed to work, even if you don't need to work.
Working to be productive, does produce economic value, which ultimately improves everyone's lives, is not a bad thing. That being said, your job shouldn't be taking 12 hours of your day and people like pregnant or nursing women need special consideration. The best HR can come up with so far, is flexible work schedules and from home work. While doing meaningful work should be a top priority, the most important are health and relationships.
In the land of Martin Luther peope have (and take) vacation, sick days are when you are sick and work hours are around 40 hours per week. If you have overtime it has to be paid and must not exceed limits. -- If you want to do sth useful there are more ways than work
@BilalKhan-yg9jc No offense but you seem completely self-absorbed by the protestant work ethic, if you say “work to be productive” i should ask you; to produce WHAT. Be productive for WHAT, exactly. Producing, or being productive, for the sake of producing isn’t rational, it’s completely braindead. Now, working for a specific goal, like saving up for retirement, has a specific purpose. But if you are not aiming at something specific and concrete you should stop and seriously ask yourself these questions.
@BilalKhan-yg9jc Also, that’s not how economic value works, it doesn’t magically “improve everyone’s lives”, work serves two purposes, it gives you a salary and it gives the company you work for profits. These profits are the company’s profits alone, they aren’t magically distributed and shared with everyone. The only way by/in which this economic value can minimally affect everyone else is through public infrastructure (and that’s basically it, as healthcare is privatized), and big corporations don’t pay taxes anyways, so their profits don’t even get in contact with the general public
First time you showed up in my feed was with on the myth of political spectrum… and was immediately hooked! Love your videos. And this comment is very on point, you do (perhaps bc of history as being lawyer?) have a way of distilling difficult concepts and presenting concise arguments and points in your essays. Keep yup the great videos. Additionally, I love how you scrutinize potential sponsors, and don’t just team up with companies obviously trying to exploit you tubers and their fans to hock their often questionable, at best, offerings.
Working is not the issue. The problem is that we dropped the Benedictine model of "Ora et Labora" and stopped glorifying God in everything we do. That's why your life is so empty..
One of my ex pupils gave me a book, "How to be Lazy", and it delves into the history of how people used to live, and how we've been conned into working too much. Scientists looked at hunter gatherer societies and discovered that they worked far less than most modern people do.
The dark side of hunter gatherer existence was that there was no private property and no way of keeping any surplus even if you choose to work long hours and amass a surplus for leaner times. Forward planning and storing up a food surplus for winter only came with agriculture and this required a system of organised laws and customs designed to prevent casual theft of goods stored for future use by a given community.
@jgdooley2003 himan groups were small and far between. They didn't compete for the same resources as low numbers guaranteed abundance of hunting/gathering opportunities. Skara Brae in Orkney is an neolithic stone village. They did grow some cereal crops for bread. I was there in 1991. It was estimated that the adults averaged 4 hours a day on necessary survival work. Not 4 hours every day but the average across the seasons. They didn't have the healthcare available to us. A minimum of 40 hours work per week - not 10 days average - plus cooking, food shopping and cleaning to survive seems excessive in comparison. Particularly when you consider that we have advanced technology that reduces the amount of work required to do something. Allegedly. Work allows us to contribute to society. How much work is needed is a separate issue. Private property and profit are abstracts of philosophy, not concrete survival.
@@michellebyrom6551 I don't like the way you are excluding elements from the problem, this is a vice that many people that defend hunters-gatherers as a better model of society incur in. You cannot remove the "we have the healthcare available to us" from the "we work 40 hours per week", you cannot remove elements from a set without it losing it's identity. Hunter gatherers worked less, this is true. They also had less populations and their groups were far from each-other as you mentioned, this is also true. But they worked less thus they had less technology and spare resources available for them, this is an implication. They also had less populations and were far from each-other because their child mortality was basically ~50%! And the child mortality was so high because they had no spare resources and no healthcare, because they did not had to work as much as we do. They could not spare resources to dedicate to their children and they could not take care of their diseaseds, they also could not afford to feed the impaired the same way as the normal working members of their societies. Of course they worked less, so this can apparently be ignored safely. And about private property and profit, they are absolutely important for survival and the fact that you are dissociating them from our modern life with all the conveniences (life healthcare) is the same vice that leads you into thinking they are "abstracts of philosophy". Even a hunter-gatherer had property of his clothes, his primary weapons (when using them) and of his own body. They did not needed or could afford private property of many things because they didn't even had those things to begin with, because they did not worked as much as we do.
Preach brother. I could not agree more on your observations. I'm in my mid 50's and I wish I had this kind of wisdom in my 20's. It's never too late before we're 10 feet under, so I have long since adapted a different way of life/work relations. If I don't like what I do - I simply walk away. To most people (including my very own coworkers) this attitude is terrifying to them, some see it as horrendeously arrogant, others sees is as frightening, and most can't afford it because of their lifestyle or families. In the end we all have made our choices. To those who read this and think the same traditional everyday people (like most) do, I will do some explaining how I achieved this and what the results are. The results are better than one could imagine. I know for a fact that a lot of people over 40 are scared of the prospects of going against their bosses, of taking total control over their own lives. But imagine this - you're in your own video that is the book written about your life. It's not done yet, it's not even written yet, all the pages from the middle and up are blank pages. What they contain - is up to you. So what I do - is that I simply think to myself, I can get fired from my job and I will easily get another, and I'll pick what I like. How? A lot of people over 40+ thinks that they're lucky to have ANY job at that age, basically they blame ageism. But I got news for you - ageism is a thing, yes, but it's got nothing to do with you because YOU are IN control of your life, or you give that control away to others. You need to enjoy the very existence of your life in order to do this, you start by writing down the things you want to do, then a masterplan how to achieve this, then a plan-b. You compromise on nothing, you take on only the jobs you want - don't wait for them to write back to you, call, contact them, and then go on checking up on them until you got the dream job of your life, most applicants don't do this, and most companies will be surprised on just how tenacious you are - and you'll most likely land the job. It doesn't stop there, once you got the job - be ambitious about your dreams, listen a lot, be a problem solver, dare to break all rules, and move forward like an unstoppable truck - but be prepared to deliver on your promises. If you found a job you REALLY LIKE - then this won't even be an issue, because you're living the fun that is your life, to achieve things, to make a difference. Also, some side-tip. Stop consuming the latest and greatest, buy a high-end phone that is 1-2 years old, they're still amazing, you still get way better stuff than a low-end phone from today, and you save about 2/3's of the cost + you don't take up a payment plan for it, go vimla, hallon or similar and be free. Also - purchase second-hand furniture, get rid of all silly subscriptions you don't need. Always bargain when you buy something. Be frugal without being frugal on your life. People will start wondering why you got so much, and money to spare all the time. In-between jobs - you fix and repair stuff, on your house, your stuff, anything. Because that's money (and control) directly into your life. They can't tax that! Once you figure out that you're actually in total control of your life - you won't look back.
Great points, thank you for sharing! Having the psychological and practical ability to quit your job if you need to is extremely powerful. That ability can start shiifting various power balances around.
So not to shit on your points or something but how much do you need to worry about housing? The lifestyle you describe is possible for me but only when I have low cost housing available
Thank you for that. I recently have had a 180 change in my life and I feel lost but this comment helped. I appreciate you and you are truly a wonderful soul
Another factor that effects the modern day work ethic emerged from the Factory School Model, induced in 19th century. It was initially designed to produce a large scale of obedient factory workers to reach demand for the industrial revolution but has since become a foundation for current education systems.
This! I've said this so many times but even as a teenager, I could understand that the Factory School Model of education doesn't provide us with skills or the ability to learn and become better in order to function as adults but was designed to unnaturally force young kids to sit still like adult workers and cram more information than they could retain only for them to forget and make an effort to keep practicing to remember it to pass exams. It's an inherently wrong approach to learning. The fact that a tiny minority of people manage to succeed later in life is explained away as the success of the system when they didn't succeed because of it but despite it with many additional privileges that many don't have. Instead of examining the inherent inadequacy of this system, it's seen as the perfectly acceptable status quo so it continues. Even many non European countries in the postcolonial world have been forced into it because if they don't, their education isn't held in value by the Americans, Canadian, Europeans etc.
When I was a school kid (50 years ago) I HATED the unspoken idea that "busy-ness is next to Godliness." Teachers would make things harder than necessary because "it's good for you." One teacher in particular would sometimes reproach me with "you just want to do everything the easy way" as if difficulty equated to virtue.
There is a value in confroning difficult situations; but a situation purposely contrived to be difficult and disallowing an obvious 'shortcut' solution is just frustrating. Alexander the Great was not being a dunce when he 'cut the Gourdian Knot', he was being a flexible thinker.
@@HuntingTarg Reminds me of math classes, which I think are taught wrong. They insist you need to start out the hard way, that shortcuts are bad. More steps to solving a problem, more time consumed and more places to make a mistake. In college I was failing a calculus class. Then a good friend in engineering showed me several shortcuts for certain mathematical processes. Suddenly I began passing. Managed a "C" for the course.
You reminded me of an episode at school when I was a kid. A language teacher used to reproach me for drawing conclusions in the last paragraphs of all my essays. It shocked me so much that I remember it as if it were yesterday. Draw your own conclusions.
I live in Brazil and although I haven't read it in any academic source it seems obvious that we are in a transition from the Catholic(I don't know if we are still the country with the largest absolute number of Catholics) to the Protestant work ethic. It is noticeable how people are more exhausted by working more, feeling embarrassed if they are not super productive and even children are developing psychiatric illnesses earlier. Currently, schools are already starting to pressure 8-year-old students to prepare for university selection tests. For example when I was a child in the 80s, it was normal for my parents to have time to interact and making good friends with neighbors (we moved around a lot because of my father's work) that lasted a lifetime. Today I don't have the time or energy for that to the point where I don't remember their faces. I could mention other changes, but in short, there is now an atmosphere of competition rather than collaboration, we are more anxious and society is less and less a source of support. It seems to me dangerous for a biologically extremely sociable species that work has become in practice the only concern.
I don't think it is Protestant work ethics. It sounds more similar to capitalism work ethics. Protestant work ethics connect work to service to God and others' well being. I feel sorry for those over burdened children.
I am Brazilian too, from Santa Catarina, and I totally agree with this. My grandpa always complained about Brazilians, and latinos in general, being lazy stupid people while anglo germans are the people with real culture, work ethics and industriousness, but I never realized how wrong that observation was until I went to study in the United States, and I saw with my own eyes how the American protestant work ethic is an enormous factory of worker zombies while I started to remember how lively we Brazilians are as a people, even now though lesser than before. Of course there are many exceptions, and I don’t want to generalize, the midwest of America for example is a very nice place with very amiable people
As salaried worker I earned 1,6k€/month and worked 40h/week. As self employed, I work about 60h/week and I gain about 600€/month. But I could never go back to work as salaried worker. I earned more money and worked less hours, but those 40h each week were tedious and lifeless. Now, my 60h of "work" each week feel amazing, as I am doing what I really love. I had never felt happier, even if some months I struggle filling my fridge.
@@frankstrawnation I do pay rent, I live in a small French village far from big cities. My home is just 35 square meters, so my rent is only 250€. If I'd have lived in Paris for example, for same home, my rent would be closer to on thousand.
no es exactamente así... www.google.com/search?q=etimologia+negocio&oq=etimologia+negocio&gs_lcrp=EgZjaHJvbWUyBggAEEUYOdIBCDU1NDNqMGo3qAIPsAIB&client=ms-android-sanmu&sourceid=chrome-mobile&ie=UTF-8
As a teacher I see this spilling over into family life. I am astonished by the number of scheduled activites that families have their children in. Children are not experiencing the leisure to be children and explore the world at their own pace and intererst. From my vantage point this has led to a loss of curiosity and wonder and a sense of great boredom. Thank you for posting this.
As a child and teenager in the 1950’s and 60’s, we would “go out and play,” without parental supervision, all day in the summer, and after school, weekends during the school year. This was “inappropriate” for my child in the 1980’s and 90’s.
I see this in my grand nephews, who are in school sports. The schedules are grinding and leave no time for exploring other interest, which is what children are supposed to do to discover their talents and likes/dislikes.
The trouble is for our children in a western country it is not safe since mass immigration, we can’t let our boys out because of the stabby culture and can’t let our girls out because of the groomers. Our only option is controlled environments for our children to interact.
Wait wait wait wait- there is a reason for this and it’s the children part. Children left to their own devices (which is ALOT these days) get themselves into mischievous trouble. The scheduled activities channels that energy (and trains it towards) something more productive and useful. That, in turn, helps them out later in life when they HAVE to work.
This "Protestant Work-ethic" unfortunately also entered schools decades ago, where teachers and caregivers give you a hard time, publicly shame you, psychologically blackmail or humiliate you, if you are happy with doing the bare minimum for a 6/10, because you're not interested in a subject. I worked so hard to please my surroundings (incl. family) and get high marks all the time, that it gave me a burn-out right at the start of my working life age 30 :S I was told over and over again "why are you doing nothing, don't you have work to do?!" (when I was resting, taking a break, drawing, taking a nap etc. even though my school results were fine). It made me feel like I every form of resting or doing something fun for myself is "LAZY!!!" and that I was a bad person for it, even though my results were more than ok, but they zeroed in on the act of "resting" like it was a huge trigger for them or something. I graduated long ago, but I don't have the idea that it has improved since in schools :S
It is acute in some parts of the world- performance for sake of top scores, then we lose creativity, daringness to solve real problems and entrepreneurship in Kenya here
I went through the exact same with the Adventist school I attended throughout my childhood. My home life was always pretty broken on top of that which made things that much worse. I only realize now that the staff was being emotionally and mentally abusive with me (psychically too at one point) when I look back on it.
My friend, the protestant work ethic has never worked for the majority of people, it was always there to benefit those who wield the most control over society. Be it politicians or business owners or clerics. To be a good protestant is to be a good, willing slave.
"Protestant work ethics" is just an excuse for godless capitalists to exploit the good, obedient people. Pretty ironic that most (if not all) of CEOs are never a religious person themselves.
Are you familiar with the idea that we are not saved by works but by faith?. Thats a protestant idea. Working hard does not get you to heaven for protestants.
The entire spectrum of political parties keep saying "jobs" because they know they're speaking to people who are underemployed, underpaid, and have no safety net for healthcare, retirement, end of life care. The voters are lead to believe that "jobs" is somehow a salvation, in a era of escalating automation, and overseas bids. Instead of promising a safety net, and universal abundance in a post-work world; in a post- scarcity world.
I think it's also because most Western countries at least have their governments depending on income tax for revenue. That relies on people having income, which is usually linked to a job. That means that to the politician, it's better to have two people doing a job that one person could do with the right tools and automation. The problem, of course, is that in a capitalist society automation is driven by capitalists who seek to reduce the cost of labor. So when the capitalists buys a machine that lets one worker do the work three used to do, they fire two workers, maybe give the remaining one a small raise, and pocket the difference. So now we have one wage-earner (tax-payer) and two unemployed people (who need to get unemployment benefits and such, and are thus a *cost* to the government rather than a source of revenue). It would be better to keep all three employed 1/3 of the time. But of course, that's no incentive to the capitalist to buy the machine in the first place.
@@BalooSJthe solution even within capitalism itself is quite simple: tax companies and give UBI. Capitalists may not be willing to pay for a worker if automation is cheaper, but if they don't contribute so that people have enough money to buy their stuff then they won't survive. They still keep a big chunk of the value added that their machines produce as profit but the other chunk goes to the jobless working class, without which those machines wouldn't have existed in the first place. Thw philosophy is the following: in a post-scarcity automated world, you can live your life as an average consumer with all needs met, or, if you are more ambitious than that, you can invest in businesses that produce so much value-added that they will not only be able to contribute to the stability and well-being of society as a whole but also make the people who invest in them to keep them running richer. If your business doesn't provide that then either it doesn't produce enough value or it needs to be subsidized because it's a basic need that's simply not (and shouldn't be) lucrative.
I'm so glad I only have to work for 8 months a year to obtain what I want in life. Sometimes people try to guilt me into working more, and I usually give them consideration for all of five seconds before thinking of all the free time I would be missing out on. I quite literally do what you describe in this video, working until I don't have to anymore, then I quit for a time, usually to travel, then get started working all over again. I have a 150 day work season (July-November) and a 90 day work season (January-March), and both are really easy to get through because they are so short.
@@pavkata97 I don't know why TH-cam didn't notify me about the reply a month ago (great job YT). I carry mail for 5 months and shovel snow for 3 months. It won't work for everyone obviously because it depends on climate.
The error many people also make is that their spending is going up when getting raises or better paying jobs. Why spend so much on things you dont need? Almost anything can be bought except time, Id rather just work less and spend more time with my family and hobbies. So I definitely did my best to get a decently payed job, but only to work as little as I need.
BINGO! You become a slave to materialism like this. Let’s all make more money yes! But let’s remember to live humbly and with just what we need. We can enjoy our hard work too but don’t become a slave to it
And this is EXACTLY what drives inflation the way humans spend as soon as they get a raise!😢 JUST IMAGINE what would happen if people got raises and focused on flourishing/optimisation inst3ad of keeping up with Joneses. 😢
@ethisfreedom no i don't think so. Inflation is caused by money printing people spending more and businesses needing to raise prices so that they can keep things they supply from getting sold out bc people over buy them. Billionaires are not hoarding money. They manufacture demand of unnecessary things and hoard marginal gains on productivity so we all still have to work despite increasing efficiency of production. Inflation is government and us period
@@ethisfreedomBoth wrong. What drives inflation is the fiat money system, creating currency in order to command production or 'stimulate growth' rather than having a fixed money supply so that price signals are meaningful indicators.
Another great video and topic. As a buiness owner and my own boss I can really relate. The protestant work etich is something that is schooled into our system by society from a childs age. But for What and for Who? The question is if We are the slaves? I wish you a merry christmas
I work way too much… I’ve spent my 20’s and 30’s working 80-100 hour weeks… I’m now in my early forties, and I’m trying like hell to get my time back. The wife and I bought a food truck and we are on year four with it. It’s almost to the point where we can take comfortably the winter off with our earnings from the summer.
You can decide to not work but the realities of life will punish you for it. If we want to eat, live in a house etc. we are spending resources. There is no way around that. If you don't provide resources but continue to use them, it's obvious that someone else has provided them for you by working in your place. That's not right either.
@@6kle82 The problem with your reasoning is that it assumes that everyone needs to work in order to have those things, but that couldn't be further from the truth, as mechanization/automation has drastically changed the amount of work that we need to do in order to survive, or even thrive. "If you don't provide resources but continue to use them, it's obvious that someone else has provided them for you by working in your place. That's not right either." Why not? If they're awarded more resources than you for their trouble, why would that be a problem?
Imo the basic work ethic returns to us when we play games: No one keeps grinding in a game once they have what they want. I‘d be interested to know how a 40 hr work week affects health both mentally & physically
Brilliantly put together. That well-known Simon Sinek talk is really put into its proper context. Another reason why people work so much is fear. With all the wars and raising inflation etc etc, as we've become future-oriented because of our protestant mindset, we worry about retirement well before, some people even in their 20s. Living to contemplate our place in the universe...what a lovely quote of Aristotle. This video really is enlightening, thank you.
Having a calling is one thing but turning it into a way to make a living is another. I've been an active musician in my local scene for over 40 years. I always thought that was my calling but I've never made more that a couple thousand dollars a year. Even with the ability to make money online now that hasn't changed the situation much compared to previous decades. There is so much saturation that we're all fighting for time slots for gigs. If I make a few hundred now per year off of recorded music, gigs and merch that's considered a success.
Not everyone "makes it" with the thing they've been doing all their life. But also, anything is possible with the internet today, even though everything related to the creative arts is way oversaturated. The best we can do is try and imitate the ingredients that made others successful and make it our own somehow.
I fell into the sweatshop work ethic for a time, because it seemed to be the logical extension of the work ethic that earned me my technical skills. As a result, I got burned out, and part of my recovery was unlearning the sweatshop mindset. Now, I only want enough, and I want an "enough" that is self-sustaining, so I never stop having enough. It's more important to me now that I get my enough by making a positive difference in the world.
Anyone truly doing a deep dive into Christianity would cease to become protestant. And yet today , (in the United States, I can’t speak for other nations) there has been a very heavy push by Protestants claiming Catholicism is not Christian. This is laughable to the extreme because the statement completely ignores history. It’s like the very edge of a cliff saying to the mountain behind it, ‘’I am the real deal and you are false’’. Luther took out books in The Bible that Jesus Himself mentioned. These are also the books that mention the mirrored horrific circumstances the world will be in in the last days.
Say it as it was: They were both murderous raging psychos. Heck, most prot religious leaders were like that, fanatical irrational madmen. Did i mention they and their masters, the northern european nobility, were sinful and corrupt as heck? So much for "muh our 'reform' is good and justified because muh Catholic Church is corrupt". Criminal hypocrites is what they were. They ruined Europe and the world with their blasted "new religion".
It is also to remember that they were still Catholic, just as Emperor Constantine was still pagan. All they were striving was to reform the Catholic Church to be less corrupt and more closer to scripture. It’s interesting when you study the seven Churches as a prophesied timeline in Revelation 2 and 3 KJV in how Pergymos reflects Emperor Constantine merging the Church with the State, Thyatira reflecting the Roman wand Orthodox Church on how they worship Jezabel and refuse to repent to God, and Sardis reflects the Protestants on how there’s a gathering but are dead.
@datprawn4850 Except they didnt care about corruption. According to Luther, we have no free will and we are all evil so he has no reason to feel "offended" by catholic "corruption". What he loathed, and he said it himself, was catholic doctrine itself and he hated it because it didnt indulge his life of drunkness and impurity. And talking about corruption, funny thing since protestant rulers were far more corrupt and tyrannical than any catholic, one just has to look at german princes, english kings and scandinavian monarchs. Luther himself sided with the rich and powerful to crush and slaughter the masses of peasants he had previously agitated against catholics. If that is not a totally corrupt behavior, i dont know what it is. And dont make me start with Calvin who was both a sodomite and a murderous tyrannt whose religious dictatorship in Geneva was no different at all from that of a taliban muslim theocracy.
@@datprawn4850I don’t know enough about Luther, but I do know quite a bit about Calvin, Knox, and Puritanism. Calvin was most definitely not a Roman Catholic. Calvin broke with the Roman Catholics in the mid-1530s. He wrote a new theology, The Institutes of the Christian Religion, which sets forth a protestant theology as opposed to a Roman Catholic theology. He denied the authority of the Pope, and (like Luther) placed authority in Scripture. He made many important changes to the communion service. He did not believe the bread and wine were the real body and blood of Christ, (called “transubstantiation”), but that communion bread and wine were symbolic. Where the Roman Catholics had an altar where the priest faced away from the congregation and lifted the body and blood of Christ to God as a sacrifice, the protestant minister had a communion table, and he faced outward toward the congregation, did not lift up the bread and wine, but offered them to his congregation in memory of Jesus. This was absolutely heretical to the 16th and 17th century Catholics, as you can imagine. He had many other big differences with the Roman Catholics. Calvin was definitely not a Catholic. I could go on and on, but I’ll spare you!😀I have a master’s degree in which I specifically studied the origins of Calvinism, in case you’re wondering where I came up with all this.
I resented the “Hurry culture” there is a youtube on it, my mother always made me hurry even if there was no need for it. I realized we can organize ourselves so we don’t have to hurry. My mother would say “we’running late”, when I got older I would suggest we plan things so we don’t “run late”. Planning is key and don’t give anything gained to a souless employer who would run you into the ground.
I studied electrical engineering and saw a lot of companies from the inside over the years and the reason we don't automate most jobs (which we could with some effort) is that labor is too cheap and inequality too high. It might sound kinda weird saying labor is too cheap at first. For average people labor is extremely expensive, but for the big companies often owned by extremely rich individuals labor is actually way cheaper than automating even basic tasks, just because their wealth is so enormous compared to what average people have. So innovation is kinda stuck and only done if it basically comes for free or the competition has innovated. So also here inequality is the main cause of the problem. It does go much deeper than this short explanation, but I guess youtube comments do have a character limit for a reason ; )
As someone whose day-to-day is basically completely oriented around automating stuff, I think this theory is somewhat correct but also not the entire picture. On the contrary, we simply have too many complex systems to automate -- nothing could change in the business I work for and I'd have 2~3 years of projects in my backlog for things to automate, and yet in reality as the business evolves and other parts of it get modernized and automated, even more things get put into the backlog and what was modern yesterday is tomorrow's technical debt. Pick any industry, and as a consumer one might take for granted that stuff "just works" - orders get fulfilled, shelves get stocked, services get activated, stuff gets shipped, appointments get kept, etc - but actually there are often thousands of background processes at play, often each with their own myriad of edge cases and sub-processes to handle the fallout of any of those steps going sideways. There is a huge amount of investment into automating all of this stuff, but the technical skillset needed to build automation is in short supply.
@@timothymiron3620 Imagine though wages were 4x as high, there would be a lot more pressure on businesses to find simpler processes. Plus if people had more time to reskill, because they were a lot richer, there could be a lot more people working on automation. Right now we have a large part of the workforce which cannot get into these jobs simply because it is not worth it to educate them, just because they come from poorer backgrounds (it is absolutely not efficient, that in germany for example most people at universities have academics as parents).
@@timothymiron3620 And I somewhat disagree that automation skillsets are in short supply, they are right were the market demand is. Otherwise big tech companies would never have done massive layoffs.
@@pericvlor I don't think big tech layoffs say much about the availability of automation skills in the overall economy. Big Tech is one place where there is _not_ a scarcity of this type of skillset. If anything, big tech layoffs are more related to misallocation / over concentration, than serving as any proof of abundance in the economy writ large. I also don't think its realistic to assume that some large portion of the population would take up automation-related vocations if given the choice. It is already the case that the free market sees engineering type roles of all sorts command relatively higher compensation than many other aspects of the economy. There's also the problem of much of the work needed requiring not only engineering skills but also deep and often boutique domain knowledge, and the nature of many types of projects being not conductive to being finished any faster by simply throwing more people at them. The book 'the mythical man month' comes to mind here. Anyways, I think its a relatively nuanced problem. I do agree with you that to some degree low wages disincentivize the type of step-change investment in automation that would otherwise be pursued, but I work at a company that has at least one single identifiable area of the business that costs over $2 billion/year to operate and has for the past 5+ years thrown similar amounts of money at automating as much of it as possible, but as mentioned the level of complexity that shows up when we try to have 'systems' interface with the messy 'real world' means that much of it remains (for now) needing humans in the loop at the fringes. Artificial Intelligence will unlock huge swaths of this backlog, and to that end the next 3~5 years are going to be crazy, but that's a separate rant.
I was struck by a chronic illness 5 years ago which rendered me unable to work. I am fortunate enough that my husband earns enough to support our family. We aren’t rich but perfectly comfortable. We have all we need. However, the level of guilt I have about not being able to work has is huge. I’m in my 50s and spend a lot of time beating myself up for acquiring something completely beyond my control. This seems to be reinforced by the question “what do you do?” when I meet someone new. I stumble for words trying to justify why I am unable to work. I inadvertently feed myself into the “deserving poor” narrative. I believe in the idea of working to gain what you need to survive and the rest of your time is your own. Applying it to myself however seems trickier.
All work and no play makes Jack a dull boy, All play and no work makes Jack a mere toy. So, the golden standard of life ought to be Somewhere in between.
You've communicated this concept so well. I have debated with a friend about the purpose of work a few times and they are strong believers in the Protestant work ethic. I am going to send this to them and maybe it'll help them think outside of that norm a little more, because what I've said never gets through lol.
It’s horses for courses. Some people (actually most people) need work. They need something to put their effort and energy into. I find these people usually don’t have any other passions or interests that they can throw themselves into. So work is good for them.
Another very important and correct video. In this context, it is worth looking for videos on the topic “Human Brain and Default Network / DFN”. The DFN becomes active when we are doing nothing and we are only just learning that it is immensely important, also for our mental health, but not only.
@@koyha5266 Do you work long shifts? What country? I also worked at a warehouse once, much of the time we had nothing to do so I spent most of my work days reading books and drinking tea to keep warm in the cold warehouse.
Most of us are not classed as slaves but we are in a system of servitude. Peoples money can be spent on pointless consumerism but most goes to basic living requirements of rent/morgage. Taxes, utility bills. A car so that we can get to and from our place servitude to make money so we can pay pur bills and taxes with just enough food so we can stay alive to keep doing this cycle of siht.
Protestant here. I think there is a massive difference between the work ethic that Luther an Calvin espoused and the post-industrial scheduled tedium that we have in the modern secular world. The protestant work ethic is right, in that we each have a calling, and we are placed in this world to serve God and other people. We are not here for ourselves. However "serving God and other people" is so much wider than just working for money. It is about taking responsibility for what you have been given, and using that to glorify God to the best of your ability. This includes non-paid material things, like taking care of your living space, and also non-material things like spending time with family and friends. Even enjoying the fruit of your labor is a very protestant thing to do. Also, the idea of working hard is way older than Protestantism. In fact, I would argue that Protestantism was a fundamentalist movement, trying to get back to what Christianity was originally supposed to mean, and trying to be as close to the Bible as possible. The Bible is full of the importance of hard work. I mean look at the 4th commandment (Work for 6 days, rest for 1) and look at how much hard work is praised by the book of Proverbs.
It is a difference if you work on your own field /own vinyard or as a wage slave for someone else. We use/Bible uses the same word "work" but actually we should have 2 different words for that.
@sheridansherr8974 On the other hand, the New Testament encourages Christian slaves to work heartily. So even as a wage slave, you should work hard. However, this needs to also be seen in the larger context of the New Testament, where love is set as the driving factor for human relationships. So being a hard working wage slave is a way for a Christian worker to love their boss. However, the Christian worker needs to take care to not neglect his love towards his family and other people and things that God gave him.
Profit motive work ethic is not compatible with traditional religion and it is heresy to claim it is "divine" or messianic. You cannot put profit motive over religion and yet claim to follow it when you clearly have stated you follow the former. Religion does not need modernising or being changed to fit Enlightenment principles. Either follow Orthodoxy or leave and make your own religion.
I don't belong to any religion, but I think the kind of protestant work ethic you describe makes a lot more sense and is actually meaningful and healthy. Work is not just what makes money, and sometimes what doesnt make money could be more meaningful than something that does. Different people also have different callings in life, and that is different from the job society forces you into. People also need rest and taking the neccesary time to rest is not the same as being lazy in my opinion
@@zakosist Yes. Thanks for the constructive conversation. Christianity is an easily-misunderstood religion, and it begs for honest exploration and intellectual effort by those who are inclined to such things. I appreciate the opportunity to share my thoughts. Even in this video's comments section, someone said that "to be a good protestant is to be a good willing slave." In a way this is true. If our "slavery" adheres to the the principles of glorifying God and loving our neighbors, good protestants will be good and willing slaves. If our "slavery" denies either one of those principles, you will find good protestants to be very unwilling slaves indeed.
I'm all for working and fulfilling a personal calling. However, work isn't just what one does for money. Work is caring for yourself, your family, friends, and your community. Praying, listening, contemplating, studying, exercising, and being present all take energy and, therefore, are a form of work. Meaningful work. I love that you mentioned Erich Fromm. One of my favorite books is "To Have or to Be." We need to go from a having culture to a being culture.
I agree with Oprah that we all have a calling. The biggest problem is that we have tied that to work and/or consumption. Our callings should be and are bigger than that. What do you bring to humanity? It's more than punching a clock, making a product, buying a product, or compiling capital. I would argue that very few people are actually fulfilling their larger calling to humanity.
And how can you even know if you are fulfilling your calling if you don't take time to contemplate about it? That would explain how some are feeling empty, yet they can't tell why.
I agree.There's a spiritual philosopher named Joel Uilli ( channel: The career archetypes ) who goes into great depth about finding one's calling or purpose. It's not easy when people have worked for survival or fell for overconsumption habits, but it is achievable for all of us.
I read an article comparing work today and in the middle ages. People had more Holidays in the Middle ages and work less than half the days of the year. So, I'm catholic and I expect we will go back to working schedule of the good old times.
People also weren't paid back then. You only worked so that the local lord wouldn't run you off the land. Yes, you worked less, but those hours don't include the amount of time you had to spend farming for your own family and stitching up your own clothes. Today you are paid in cash, a universal form of payment - meaning you can at least purchase food and clothing in a matter of minutes instead of having to make them yourself. I'm not trying to sugarcoat the current-day situation but don't act like they had it better during the Middle Ages.
One thing I don't understand in people is how some people sneer at people who don't want to work 10 hours a day plus 2 hours commuting per day. Personally I'd probably work better with 4-6 hours per day and then rest.
@@stephbutler8704absolute bulls--t. Where are your citations and was it a sample of a 100 participants? Productive people will always be more productive then less productive people. No artificial measure will change this. It's nature which is reality.
Social scientist Rodney Stark commented that "during their critical period of economic development, these northern centers of capitalism were Catholic, not Protestant", with the Reformation still far off in the future. Furthermore, he also highlighted the conclusions of other historians, noting that, compared to Catholics, Protestants were "not more likely to hold the high-status capitalist positions", that Catholic Europe did not lag in its industrial development compared to Protestant areas, and that even Weber wrote that "fully developed capitalism had appeared in Europe" long before the Reformation.[38] As British historian Hugh Trevor-Roper stated, the concept that "large-scale industrial capitalism was ideologically impossible before the Reformation is exploded by the simple fact that it existed".[39] French historian Fernand Braudel wrote that "all historians" opposed the "tenuous theory" of Protestant ethic, despite not being able to entirely quash the theory "once and for all". Braudel continues to remark that the "northern countries took over the place that earlier had been so long and brilliantly been occupied by the old capitalist centers of the Mediterranean. They invented nothing, either in technology or business management".[40] Historian Laurence R. Iannaccone has written that "Ironically, the most noteworthy feature of the Protestant Ethic thesis is its absence of empirical support", citing the work of Swedish economic historian Kurt Samuelsson[41] that "economic progress was uncorrelated with religion, or was temporally incompatible with Weber's thesis, or actually reversed the pattern claimed by Weber."[7] en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Protestant_work_ethic#Historicity I think Marx's work explains capitalist development much better than Weber.
You might find it interesting to listen to Alan Watts. He talks about what people really want to do is sing, dance, put on plays, these things are natural and give us great joy. In 2025 we no longer play communally but we play digitally on tv and movie screens, on social media and TH-cam etc. It’s not the same. Instead of bringing us together the mechanical nature of the delivery ends up isolating us more . Now there is a device, a screen between you and me, it’s no longer about connection but more about status and power. I’m sure this is a road humanity needs to pass through and eventually it will find its way back home.
So what principle is guiding you now? What are you replacing the Protestant work ethic with? Great topic, would love to see more around work, work ethic and jobs.
im not who youre asking, but ... the traditional work ethic, i suppose? work as much as needed and no more. since thats what was talked about, thats what i kinda assumed anyway. but yeah, would love to see more abt implementing that :)
@@Slipping_thru_the_Seams Still, with the material abundance that we have today, we would barely need to work if we were to adopt the traditional work ethic, don’t you think? Wouldn’t that be unhealthy also? Maybe that’s my inner protestant work ethic speaking: even though I’m catholic lol.
@joaolira3217 i dont think it would be unhealthy :) i guess it kind of depends on how you define work, play and art; but i think if we do just enough of what we Have To Do, and then spend the rest of our time doing what we want, motivated by pursuing whats fun and interesting, we will incidentally also end up doing useful things, (though not always, but anyway that shouldnt be the focus obviously) and it will be mentally stimulating and relaxing, when the pressure of "Have To" isnt there. (Universal Basic Income could help a lot w this.) also i rewatched the video because of this comment chain, and i think the ending of the video was meant to make each of us think about what to replace it with. it doesn't necessarily have to be some framework that already exists. we could come up with some new and more appropriate-to-modern-context way of balancing how we spend our time and efforts. like, we can be more specific about what's important. personally, i think the important part of life is whatever i feel interested in at the moment, lol. especially like, learning about things that are tightly woven into my life. but ultimately i can't be maximising for any one value. balance has to always be kept in mind, everything in moderation. its a cliche but its all about Being Present and assessing-as-you-go. i think the big problem with how the protestant work ethic has seeped into our lives is that we lose our vigilance abt determining our own lives, and just trust that work=good. thats a dead way of thinking.
Seems like that was partially answered in the video, right? There's nothing wrong with a simple life of contented contemplation. We don't have to be lazy, but we also don't have to help the show runners move a million miles an hour just to create the next thing just so they can 1) weaponize it, 2) use it to obsolete their current workforce, or 3) produce junk no one needs. And... If the people who can afford to take it easy *do* take it easy, it eases the hustle on the people who are less well off. The irony of all of this is that it was the entire purpose of "observing the sabbath." Sad that the forgetting of and twisting of it was based off of a reformation along the same branch of religion that recognized the necessity of it in the first place.
What's crazy about that is that almost every problem modern society faces, like severe inequality in the distribution of wealth, ecological problems and climate change etc. comes down to one thing: the capitalistic mindset we get infused the moment we are born. It's all interconnected. We work too much, produce too much, consume too much, and therefore we need more resources than earth can reproduce. I always found it mind boggling that it is about creating jobs for the sake of it. It's not about how much work has to be done. There is no upper limit. The more the better. And it's paradox because the alleged purpose of people working so much is so they can enjoy life. But for most of us this ends in working too much and living too little. I think the most important thing is realizing that many of those needs we want to satisfy and that motivate us to work more are created by others so they themselves can sell more, therefore work, produce and earn more, just in order for them to satisfy their own needs that again were created by others through marketing and were then reproduced within society. The imagination of what makes a good live needs to shift in order for real change to arise.
If you ever find out that "Something better " do let us know because I am tired of the 'grind'. Years and years of it, just to be able to live, to do more of it.
Underlying the question „why work?” is the question “why live?”. One is encouraged to adopt cultural norms, without considering this latter question; hence people readily become functions within a machine. This operates within a regime controlled by a specific form of money (debt-based, compound-interest linked, allied to Capital possession). It automatically demands exponential, unsustainable growth and debt whilst concentrating around quasi-capital, with resultant social and environmental costs. That’s before one even gets into the questionable finance, trade and marketing practices which exacerbate the situation. Driving people apart also helps to create more customers for things which would otherwise be shared. I answer the “why live?” question with “Life is a chance a) to have enjoyable experiences and b) to help other people have enjoyable experiences. If it ceases to be that, I’m off to self-compost. Attached to “b” is my arrogance that perhaps I’m worth more alive than dead; obviously a questionable point.
Great video, thank you. I did an undergrad in religionswissenschaft and we had a number of discussions on this topic. Thanks to the protestant revolution 'god as a judge' became internalized and continuously present for people in protestant / puritan cultures. Feelings of rest and anonymity were replaced by feelings of being observed 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, 365 days a year. Previously 'god as a judge' was mediated through catholic and orthodox clergy in special places, in special ways, with special language, at at special times. So there was less of a feeling of being continuously observed and judged. It's amazing how powerful the ideas of the protestant revolution were! In some ways we're still encoding them into our digital revolution and hustle culture. Glad you're helping to make more people aware of these foundational elements of thought that govern our lives.
@@The66-tqst it's rather complex in it's implications and there was some good that came out of it. But overall the trajectory of western civilization was changed forever and I wouldn't say it was for the better.
This is why i left my marketing job. It paid extremely well but it felt soulless and hollow. Especially at the dawn of mobile apps where i saw what the data was being used for along with how much people blindly spent on mobile apps. I shifted into education and im slowly working towards my end goal for educational reform. Even if im not the “one” to do it, i want to at least know i contributed towards it. Great video
The worst part is that most people work 2000 hrs a year or more and STILL cannot provide what they need, because the companies have taken advantage of this constant stream of labor and essentially made it so you always have a reason to come back to work the next day.
Part of the problem is our expectations about what we "need" to live a comfortable life. Think about it: our ancestors didn't need to earn money to buy a TV or pay the electric bill. They only bought the absolute basics. If we were prepared to live at the same standard of living our ancestors did it would cost far less.
"pay the electric bill" I pay ~30 EUR per month for the electric bill that is ~2h of work; that is much less time than I would need to collect wood, build fires, clean out the ash etc. to cook for a full month only an example - but in that regards it is easier and less work to pay for the electric bill than to accept the living standard of our ancesters
They had community and stable housing though, and more free time, which are prohibitively expensive now. TV and similar lixuries are not the reason why we work extra as much as cheqp fixes tot hw.more expensivw things we have lost
@ jt1559 That’s a valid point. What’s driving a huge part of the struggle are the contributions one has to deliver to the rentier class of landowners and owners of other natural resources. Economical theorist Silvio Gesell advocated a path between capitalism and communism. - You own what you build or grow on the land, but never the land itself. Land should be owned by the community and be for lease only.
When I was child my father took me at visiting his friend living in his old farm in the countryside near Rome (Italy). It was winter, and I was quite surprised seeing that almost all working activities was stopped during the cold season. Just reparations and minor jobs was carried out in that period, and a lot of time in the farm was spent in talking, staying together, lunch/dinner preparation, visiting neighbors, etc. I had big eyes because we, in the big city, was working hard everyday, until 22:00 p.m. running like crazy all days in the traffic, weaking up at 7:00 (saturday included), etc. Winter or summer made no difference in our life. There is something wrong in our "advanced" society...
Great work; The practicality of these views can vary based on individual perspectives and cultural contexts. Weber’s emphasis on the Protestant work ethic has been associated with the rise of capitalism and economic success in certain regions. However, Aristotle’s focus on eudaimonia may resonate more with those who prioritize overall well being and virtue. We must ask ourselves, when contemplating either perspective what constitutes a sense of happiness? Is it practical? In the end, My personal perspective is we are luring to be productive, in turn, this provides us fulfillment. By being productive, we benefit someone else, even if a selfish motive lies between the action and duty. On the behalf of our production, we in turn provide utility to someone else; such as this lovely video. Therefore, utilitarianism may be at the root of the people you mentioned, but then again what do I know, just speculating. Thanks for the video and this thought, Merry Christmas! 🎁
Thanks for interesting thoughts! I agree with you that all of us want to feel useful. There is a risk that we in today's labour society, mainly value our "usefulness" in the labour market (what we do as employees or entrepreneurs) while the usefulness we have in our extended families, in our neighborhood, in our churches, in our sports organizations etc. aren't viewed as "valuable" in quite the same way. Merry Christmas my friend!
Good video. The book Bulllshit Jobs by David Graeber is a must read for anyone exploring how employment today is hateful. A particularly galling insight from it is that arguably the most socially useless work, like marketing, is highly valued and paid, while the most socially important, like teaching or care-taking children is paid peanuts.
Martin Luther isn't really to blame for the modern work ethic. He was just one guy who held an opinion on work being a calling. He was not the first nor the last to say such things. Nothing really changed in terms of work ethic until centuries after his death. The real genesis of the modern work ethic begins with the Industrial revolution when machines started to compete with human labor. It up ended the social contract of traditional labor and replaced it with a "worse deal" where humans were told to keep up with the machines or else lose their livelihoods.
Great video! The other day, I saw some commentary to an article about “financial independence, retire early.” One fellow mentioned he did this at age 38 and he found that he was alone. It seems to me that a lot of people need purpose, and many find that in their work. There is a WHOLE lot more people who just don’t think they have enough money yet to meet their needs. And yet or who, as you say, feel like they need the newest gadgets all the time and must work to earn them. All of this coming from a man who does not work the normal schedule.
Absolutely. We live in a huge complex system that is optional. In the 1700s we took a huge lumbering mechanical coal driven lurch to the right and off the path we were on. We have a choice now. There are other ways in which humanity could exist, thrive and co-operate. We have lost sight of it but it is there.
Suddenly I now understand why so many teachers quit after a short number of years. And no wonder the training, the pgde program that I am enrolled in, to become one, is so painful too .
The thing about the catholic to protestant switch was also the closing of monasteries. Monasteries were a hub of community building. They were a source of worship, education, medicine and charity, and so people flocked to the monasteries for help. Often villages and cities sprang up around monasteries for that reason. After the refomation in some areas, monasteries were deemd a bad thing. They got closed by state force, and the lands and wealth belonging to the monasteries went to the leaders of the area. The german princes for example. In Siwtzerland, it was cities who got the wealth of the closed monasteries. The ones closing the monasteries did usually promise, they would feed the poor and educate and fund hospitals themselves. But doing so is harder than it looks, and people had to fend way more fo themselves. And so, a' protestant work ethic' sprang up. Pull yourself up by the bootstraps. Your wellbeing is alone your own responsibility. It feels a bit better to blame the poor for not working enough and make work an inherent virtue, than to feel bad about closing important sources of help for everybody. By the way: i'm working more than i need to. But not really for money, because my husband takes good care of me. I try to educate children about the faith, so they have a chance to get that peace of mind that comes with trust in God. That peace of mind will hep to not put work first all the time
Of course we should work and keep our body's moving for the mind and body but this working a dead end job so someone else makes all the money is horseshit and I think that's one of the main reasons why people aren't working today
Yes it's both the lack of real purpose, often terrible work deals with low salaries and too long hours, and that just the type of jobs most people do nowadays are unnatural and unhealthy both physically and mentally thats the issue. Humans were made for working on a farm (the old fashioned way preferably) or hunting or otherwise with nature. Not saying everyone should do that. But its something people are much better suited to do and most people would be in a much more harmonious state. We need both the exercise and contact with nature and maybe the sense of actually producing something tangible
I'm in the midst of a rather intense sojourn back to tradition. The process of identifying and destroying the modern underpinnings of my life has been very, very painful and difficult. I want to live life the right way, but feel as though I have no clue. Nothing has been handed down to me that isn't novel or based on clearly the wrong things. Thank you for helping me sort myself out further. I've obsessed and lost peace over this notion of calling for a very long time, and taken great pride in my ability to work above and beyond what is necessary. Thank you for helping me get a little closer to the truth.
@@robbob022 Yeah and hunters and gatherers didnt have a vast complex modern world of electricity plumbing and shipping lanes to maintain. If you want to work like a hunter you will live like one. No power no, no internet,, no plumbing. Nothing Just a crappy tent structure and a fire. Is that what you want?
It would depend on climate. Hunter/gatherers in seasonal or cold climates would have had to labor not just for food, but shelter, clothing, and heating fuel provisions. You may have needed to barter for some of what you needed. It also required seasonal migration, which is also work.
I really appreciate the message set forth here. The Catholic philosopher Josef Pieper wrote a really good book on the importance of leisure, rightly understood.
The idea of "holidays" comes from "holy days" in the Catholic Church - solemn feasts throughout the year outside of Sundays but observed as a Sunday when one was obligated to attend Mass and refrain from physical labor. We still have a few of these "holy days of obligation." What irony when Catholics say they can't attend Mass on these days because they have to work!
I dreamed of a perfect society when I was 10-12 and it was something similar to this. You would live in a comunity and basically get everything for free provided that you work for a few hours every day to make it possible to keep things as they are. You could work for more in order to get money and do other things but it would not be required. It is more complex but people said I did not want that and that it sounded like prisson. I later was in prisson for a few months and I swear that it was the best months in my life. I often say that if I didn't need to do crime to get to prisson I would like to live there for the rest of my life.
I sense that what you are saying is cutting edge, and will become the model for humanity's future! It is very helpful for me to hear. Thank you SO much!
I wish I could make enough in 2 hours of work to survive the rest of the week. I would retire right now if I could and just ponder my place in the universe.
This is controversial, but working on the things required to make me a better person either mentally or financially, working lots of hours makes me feel so fulfilled and happy
Just discovered your work🙏 Top notch! It really gives good elements for analysis, deconstruction of certain underlying patterns, opening to ither ways of feeling and being. Thank you 🌈
One of these days, the issue of "no one willing to work" will end and "no one can work". As soon as there will be a finite number of jobs, and customers to fuel those jobs. But not enough for everyone to work. Even for minimum wage. Meanwhile still having that work ethic mindset that "if you're not working, then you deserve nothing." We either need to restore jobs, or change how we do work and live.
Jaw dropping again. You are phenomenol Andres. Would you mind sharing which pack of SFX do you use in these masterpieces? Would love to get those. Thanks brother and keep up the great work.
Thanks my friend. Your generosity always amazez me. Please think about creating a course on how to edit these bangers. I know many editors including me who are dying to learn from you.
You are certainly on to something with the "protestant work ethic"... I think it goes even beyond work as I have always been amazed at how a lot of protestant culture people treat even their sentimental life as work.. in English you even have phrases like "we must work on our relationship".... I think another related subject that would be interesting to discuss is the relationship with money ...
I really feel like people are no longer cultivated in appropriate ways, rather we are forced onto procrustean beds for companies to profit off of, but everything just winds up artificially inflating asset prices in a bubble because productivity is stalling for a lot of varied reasons. I think we perfected maximizing outputs but we’ve only started scratching the surface of figuring out how to manage inputs. The idea that if enough is good than more would be awesome seems to not work out the majority of the time.
Some people, like me, enjoy making things, solving problems, and being productive. If you don't enjoy those things that's fine, but many do. I intend to work as long as I can. No disrespect. You do you.
A DC area apartment is 50k today, on the higher end For 2 bed bath 25k per person 5k for groceries and an unlimited bus pass yearly 30k Just 100k in tqqq etf would have been enough capital gains for retirement over the last decade Most Americans can get 100k within a year or two, between hard work and some gifts received from older relatives. That we work beyond these 2 years or so, is obviously representative of cultural pressures ❤😢❤😢❤
I only started working again 2 weeks ago after staying at home for pretty much all of 2024. I could easily sustain myself just doing as much as I needed, and I had pretty much all week to myself just doing things I enjoyed. During this time I published a book and even a few albums on spotify, as well as learning a shitton about history and I even became a polytheist. This is actually not the first time I've done this. Between 2013 and 2015 I lived in Norway and I also stayed home full time between 2010 and 2013 before I moved countries. All this free time has been hugely beneficial for my own personal development and well being. Also if there's one advice I can give, stop giving banks your money. Always pay with cash and invest in Gold. I can't stress that enough. ❤
The economic gap between surviving and being free to do whatever I want is gigantic. I could probably never work again. But that would mean just surviving for the rest of my life. What I want is to be a blessing to those around me. Work gives me the ability to do that.
To say that everyone has a calling is one thing -- saying that we all should work 40hr weeks and overconsume IS ruining our societies. What if my calling is to take care of street cats, or put on musicals with my neighbours? The problem is that we have automated away the need for everyone to work so much, but somewhere along the way it was decided that the only valuable worl - the only valid calling - was to be PRODUCTIVE, and productivity is measures in dollars. More dollars = more moral. Somehow.
You think it was easier in the 1800s, you worked all the time. Farming the land, taking care if the house, mending clothes, food preparation, cutting wood to stay warm, digging wells for water. Life is way easier and comfortable today. We get paid vacation, holidays, sick time. What a soft generation we have become.
I've been living the Aristotle style for the last 3 years ever since I quit my job as a software engineer. I live with my parents now. They pay for everything. I have 100% free time. I do in fact spent most of my time contemplating my existence, the Universe, the spiritual dimension, the sublime, the abstract, the arts, the intellectual, etc.
This is my favorite of your videos this year. I really like the straightforwardness and the clear questions. That’s maybe what I liked least about your videos on left-right politics. It gave good background, educated a lot of people on where the idea comes from but left us with no interesting questions. Historically it was great. Scientifically or more accurately sociologically it was a failure. I think the topic is worth a re-visit, however.
I hate this work obsessed culture, it's killing damn near every aspect of our lives. Socially, emotionally, mentally, spiritually. I'm glad more people are talking about it finally.
what is your work timing
it's not a culture....it's imposed by the upper class on the lower classes to keep them busy and not looking into their business. to keep people tired and only think about their own (financial) safety.
@@dirk1998 you hate capitalism! So do I
I agree since we need to be in the golden middle where we work hard enough to get things done, but still have time to enjoy life rather than making work our entire lives.
It'll be worse once China or US take over the world
After I graduated and up until I had kids. I would work for about two or three years. Then quit, take a year off and live of my savings. Then I would take a new job and repeat the process. You can never imagine how many people have rolled their eyes at this way of living. You are supposed to work, even if you don't need to work.
Working to be productive, does produce economic value, which ultimately improves everyone's lives, is not a bad thing.
That being said, your job shouldn't be taking 12 hours of your day and people like pregnant or nursing women need special consideration.
The best HR can come up with so far, is flexible work schedules and from home work. While doing meaningful work should be a top priority, the most important are health and relationships.
Well, you should make sure to save for retirement, unless you intend for your children to not have the option to not work sometimes like this
In the land of Martin Luther peope have (and take) vacation, sick days are when you are sick and work hours are around 40 hours per week. If you have overtime it has to be paid and must not exceed limits. -- If you want to do sth useful there are more ways than work
@BilalKhan-yg9jc No offense but you seem completely self-absorbed by the protestant work ethic, if you say “work to be productive” i should ask you; to produce WHAT. Be productive for WHAT, exactly. Producing, or being productive, for the sake of producing isn’t rational, it’s completely braindead. Now, working for a specific goal, like saving up for retirement, has a specific purpose. But if you are not aiming at something specific and concrete you should stop and seriously ask yourself these questions.
@BilalKhan-yg9jc Also, that’s not how economic value works, it doesn’t magically “improve everyone’s lives”, work serves two purposes, it gives you a salary and it gives the company you work for profits. These profits are the company’s profits alone, they aren’t magically distributed and shared with everyone. The only way by/in which this economic value can minimally affect everyone else is through public infrastructure (and that’s basically it, as healthcare is privatized), and big corporations don’t pay taxes anyways, so their profits don’t even get in contact with the general public
Every time you post I’m blown away by the conciseness of your message and the quality of your production - KEEP THESE VIDEOS UP!!!
Thanks! :)
Thank god you didn’t end up was a typical lawyer:))
„There are people, and there are laywers“
First time you showed up in my feed was with on the myth of political spectrum… and was immediately hooked! Love your videos. And this comment is very on point, you do (perhaps bc of history as being lawyer?) have a way of distilling difficult concepts and presenting concise arguments and points in your essays. Keep yup the great videos. Additionally, I love how you scrutinize potential sponsors, and don’t just team up with companies obviously trying to exploit you tubers and their fans to hock their often questionable, at best, offerings.
agreed
Working is not the issue. The problem is that we dropped the Benedictine model of "Ora et Labora" and stopped glorifying God in everything we do. That's why your life is so empty..
One of my ex pupils gave me a book, "How to be Lazy", and it delves into the history of how people used to live, and how we've been conned into working too much.
Scientists looked at hunter gatherer societies and discovered that they worked far less than most modern people do.
The dark side of hunter gatherer existence was that there was no private property and no way of keeping any surplus even if you choose to work long hours and amass a surplus for leaner times. Forward planning and storing up a food surplus for winter only came with agriculture and this required a system of organised laws and customs designed to prevent casual theft of goods stored for future use by a given community.
@@jgdooley2003 Funnily enough, I've just seen the video with that title. I'll have to watch it when I get back from... work.
@jgdooley2003 himan groups were small and far between. They didn't compete for the same resources as low numbers guaranteed abundance of hunting/gathering opportunities.
Skara Brae in Orkney is an neolithic stone village. They did grow some cereal crops for bread. I was there in 1991. It was estimated that the adults averaged 4 hours a day on necessary survival work. Not 4 hours every day but the average across the seasons. They didn't have the healthcare available to us. A minimum of 40 hours work per week - not 10 days average - plus cooking, food shopping and cleaning to survive seems excessive in comparison. Particularly when you consider that we have advanced technology that reduces the amount of work required to do something. Allegedly.
Work allows us to contribute to society. How much work is needed is a separate issue. Private property and profit are abstracts of philosophy, not concrete survival.
@@michellebyrom6551
I don't like the way you are excluding elements from the problem, this is a vice that many people that defend hunters-gatherers as a better model of society incur in.
You cannot remove the "we have the healthcare available to us" from the "we work 40 hours per week", you cannot remove elements from a set without it losing it's identity.
Hunter gatherers worked less, this is true. They also had less populations and their groups were far from each-other as you mentioned, this is also true. But they worked less thus they had less technology and spare resources available for them, this is an implication. They also had less populations and were far from each-other because their child mortality was basically ~50%! And the child mortality was so high because they had no spare resources and no healthcare, because they did not had to work as much as we do. They could not spare resources to dedicate to their children and they could not take care of their diseaseds, they also could not afford to feed the impaired the same way as the normal working members of their societies. Of course they worked less, so this can apparently be ignored safely.
And about private property and profit, they are absolutely important for survival and the fact that you are dissociating them from our modern life with all the conveniences (life healthcare) is the same vice that leads you into thinking they are "abstracts of philosophy". Even a hunter-gatherer had property of his clothes, his primary weapons (when using them) and of his own body. They did not needed or could afford private property of many things because they didn't even had those things to begin with, because they did not worked as much as we do.
@@michellebyrom6551
You cannot disconnect the amount of work we do, private property and profit from the well-being and conveniences we have today.
Preach brother. I could not agree more on your observations. I'm in my mid 50's and I wish I had this kind of wisdom in my 20's. It's never too late before we're 10 feet under, so I have long since adapted a different way of life/work relations. If I don't like what I do - I simply walk away. To most people (including my very own coworkers) this attitude is terrifying to them, some see it as horrendeously arrogant, others sees is as frightening, and most can't afford it because of their lifestyle or families. In the end we all have made our choices.
To those who read this and think the same traditional everyday people (like most) do, I will do some explaining how I achieved this and what the results are. The results are better than one could imagine. I know for a fact that a lot of people over 40 are scared of the prospects of going against their bosses, of taking total control over their own lives. But imagine this - you're in your own video that is the book written about your life. It's not done yet, it's not even written yet, all the pages from the middle and up are blank pages. What they contain - is up to you.
So what I do - is that I simply think to myself, I can get fired from my job and I will easily get another, and I'll pick what I like. How? A lot of people over 40+ thinks that they're lucky to have ANY job at that age, basically they blame ageism. But I got news for you - ageism is a thing, yes, but it's got nothing to do with you because YOU are IN control of your life, or you give that control away to others. You need to enjoy the very existence of your life in order to do this, you start by writing down the things you want to do, then a masterplan how to achieve this, then a plan-b. You compromise on nothing, you take on only the jobs you want - don't wait for them to write back to you, call, contact them, and then go on checking up on them until you got the dream job of your life, most applicants don't do this, and most companies will be surprised on just how tenacious you are - and you'll most likely land the job.
It doesn't stop there, once you got the job - be ambitious about your dreams, listen a lot, be a problem solver, dare to break all rules, and move forward like an unstoppable truck - but be prepared to deliver on your promises. If you found a job you REALLY LIKE - then this won't even be an issue, because you're living the fun that is your life, to achieve things, to make a difference.
Also, some side-tip. Stop consuming the latest and greatest, buy a high-end phone that is 1-2 years old, they're still amazing, you still get way better stuff than a low-end phone from today, and you save about 2/3's of the cost + you don't take up a payment plan for it, go vimla, hallon or similar and be free. Also - purchase second-hand furniture, get rid of all silly subscriptions you don't need. Always bargain when you buy something. Be frugal without being frugal on your life. People will start wondering why you got so much, and money to spare all the time.
In-between jobs - you fix and repair stuff, on your house, your stuff, anything. Because that's money (and control) directly into your life. They can't tax that!
Once you figure out that you're actually in total control of your life - you won't look back.
Great points, thank you for sharing!
Having the psychological and practical ability to quit your job if you need to is extremely powerful. That ability can start shiifting various power balances around.
So not to shit on your points or something but how much do you need to worry about housing? The lifestyle you describe is possible for me but only when I have low cost housing available
Wise words my friend. Thanks for that.
100% agree!
Thank you for that. I recently have had a 180 change in my life and I feel lost but this comment helped. I appreciate you and you are truly a wonderful soul
Another factor that effects the modern day work ethic emerged from the Factory School Model, induced in 19th century. It was initially designed to produce a large scale of obedient factory workers to reach demand for the industrial revolution but has since become a foundation for current education systems.
This! I've said this so many times but even as a teenager, I could understand that the Factory School Model of education doesn't provide us with skills or the ability to learn and become better in order to function as adults but was designed to unnaturally force young kids to sit still like adult workers and cram more information than they could retain only for them to forget and make an effort to keep practicing to remember it to pass exams. It's an inherently wrong approach to learning. The fact that a tiny minority of people manage to succeed later in life is explained away as the success of the system when they didn't succeed because of it but despite it with many additional privileges that many don't have. Instead of examining the inherent inadequacy of this system, it's seen as the perfectly acceptable status quo so it continues. Even many non European countries in the postcolonial world have been forced into it because if they don't, their education isn't held in value by the Americans, Canadian, Europeans etc.
Is this the same thing as the Prussian school system? If so, I found out the Prussian school system was based on spartan culture. Explains a lot.
"But has become a basis for modern education systems" (modern education systems are massively biased towards turning out apolitical technical workers)
@@ThePlayerOfGames Apolitical? I think you meant to say liberal.
Bismarck education you mean.
When I was a school kid (50 years ago) I HATED the unspoken idea that "busy-ness is next to Godliness." Teachers would make things harder than necessary because "it's good for you."
One teacher in particular would sometimes reproach me with "you just want to do everything the easy way" as if difficulty equated to virtue.
"Work harder not smarter."
It's called decorating the trash bin humans have tendency to sugar coat things.
There is a value in confroning difficult situations; but a situation purposely contrived to be difficult and disallowing an obvious 'shortcut' solution is just frustrating. Alexander the Great was not being a dunce when he 'cut the Gourdian Knot', he was being a flexible thinker.
@@HuntingTarg Reminds me of math classes, which I think are taught wrong. They insist you need to start out the hard way, that shortcuts are bad. More steps to solving a problem, more time consumed and more places to make a mistake.
In college I was failing a calculus class. Then a good friend in engineering showed me several shortcuts for certain mathematical processes. Suddenly I began passing. Managed a "C" for the course.
You reminded me of an episode at school when I was a kid. A language teacher used to reproach me for drawing conclusions in the last paragraphs of all my essays. It shocked me so much that I remember it as if it were yesterday. Draw your own conclusions.
I live in Brazil and although I haven't read it in any academic source it seems obvious that we are in a transition from the Catholic(I don't know if we are still the country with the largest absolute number of Catholics) to the Protestant work ethic. It is noticeable how people are more exhausted by working more, feeling embarrassed if they are not super productive and even children are developing psychiatric illnesses earlier. Currently, schools are already starting to pressure 8-year-old students to prepare for university selection tests. For example when I was a child in the 80s, it was normal for my parents to have time to interact and making good friends with neighbors (we moved around a lot because of my father's work) that lasted a lifetime. Today I don't have the time or energy for that to the point where I don't remember their faces. I could mention other changes, but in short, there is now an atmosphere of competition rather than collaboration, we are more anxious and society is less and less a source of support. It seems to me dangerous for a biologically extremely sociable species that work has become in practice the only concern.
You are so right. I'm tired of shaming for not being productive and efficient non stop. People are not created for work.
@sheridansherr8974 We are human before we are workers and this condition has demands that must be met. I wish you the best.
I don't think it is Protestant work ethics. It sounds more similar to capitalism work ethics. Protestant work ethics connect work to service to God and others' well being. I feel sorry for those over burdened children.
Please stay Catholic, it is the Church Jesus created
I am Brazilian too, from Santa Catarina, and I totally agree with this. My grandpa always complained about Brazilians, and latinos in general, being lazy stupid people while anglo germans are the people with real culture, work ethics and industriousness, but I never realized how wrong that observation was until I went to study in the United States, and I saw with my own eyes how the American protestant work ethic is an enormous factory of worker zombies while I started to remember how lively we Brazilians are as a people, even now though lesser than before. Of course there are many exceptions, and I don’t want to generalize, the midwest of America for example is a very nice place with very amiable people
As salaried worker I earned 1,6k€/month and worked 40h/week.
As self employed, I work about 60h/week and I gain about 600€/month.
But I could never go back to work as salaried worker. I earned more money and worked less hours, but those 40h each week were tedious and lifeless. Now, my 60h of "work" each week feel amazing, as I am doing what I really love. I had never felt happier, even if some months I struggle filling my fridge.
Indeed. Glad you found your true calling. For me it's agriculture. I'm a trained mathematician and now I just want to farm.
@@ZaraThustra-w2n That's great. Agriculture is one of the most important and vital human profession.
@@Mendogologytrue
@@MendogologyGood for that you don't need to pay rent.
@@frankstrawnation I do pay rent, I live in a small French village far from big cities. My home is just 35 square meters, so my rent is only 250€. If I'd have lived in Paris for example, for same home, my rent would be closer to on thousand.
I'm a native Spanish speaker and I never thought about about the origin of the word "negocio". Ne (no) gocio (joy). Good to know.
Never noticed that too
Ne/não(no) gocio/gosto (flavour)
no es exactamente así...
www.google.com/search?q=etimologia+negocio&oq=etimologia+negocio&gs_lcrp=EgZjaHJvbWUyBggAEEUYOdIBCDU1NDNqMGo3qAIPsAIB&client=ms-android-sanmu&sourceid=chrome-mobile&ie=UTF-8
Negocio is nec otium, no ocio. And ocio is not neccessarily joy. If you are doing nothing at all, you are being ocioso.
It's better to remember the etymology of the word trabajo. Trabajo comes from tripalium, an ancient torture device.
@@frankstrawnation holy shit its Nosferatu
Tack, Andreas! Mer av detta! God jul på dig!
Merry late Christmas to you, too!
As a teacher I see this spilling over into family life. I am astonished by the number of scheduled activites that families have their children in. Children are not experiencing the leisure to be children and explore the world at their own pace and intererst. From my vantage point this has led to a loss of curiosity and wonder and a sense of great boredom. Thank you for posting this.
As a child and teenager in the 1950’s and 60’s, we would “go out and play,” without parental supervision, all day in the summer, and after school, weekends during the school year. This was “inappropriate” for my child in the 1980’s and 90’s.
I still have the couriosity of a child if I see a creek I want to explore it I see a trail I want to follow it
I see this in my grand nephews, who are in school sports. The schedules are grinding and leave no time for exploring other interest, which is what children are supposed to do to discover their talents and likes/dislikes.
The trouble is for our children in a western country it is not safe since mass immigration, we can’t let our boys out because of the stabby culture and can’t let our girls out because of the groomers. Our only option is controlled environments for our children to interact.
Wait wait wait wait- there is a reason for this and it’s the children part. Children left to their own devices (which is ALOT these days) get themselves into mischievous trouble. The scheduled activities channels that energy (and trains it towards) something more productive and useful. That, in turn, helps them out later in life when they HAVE to work.
This "Protestant Work-ethic" unfortunately also entered schools decades ago, where teachers and caregivers give you a hard time, publicly shame you, psychologically blackmail or humiliate you, if you are happy with doing the bare minimum for a 6/10, because you're not interested in a subject. I worked so hard to please my surroundings (incl. family) and get high marks all the time, that it gave me a burn-out right at the start of my working life age 30 :S I was told over and over again "why are you doing nothing, don't you have work to do?!" (when I was resting, taking a break, drawing, taking a nap etc. even though my school results were fine). It made me feel like I every form of resting or doing something fun for myself is "LAZY!!!" and that I was a bad person for it, even though my results were more than ok, but they zeroed in on the act of "resting" like it was a huge trigger for them or something. I graduated long ago, but I don't have the idea that it has improved since in schools :S
Indeed, the protestant work ethic is ridiculous
It is acute in some parts of the world- performance for sake of top scores, then we lose creativity, daringness to solve real problems and entrepreneurship in Kenya here
@@seeleunit2000 No, the Protestant work ethic is great and without it we still would live in poverty.
@@seeleunit2000Tip of the iceberg in terms of the harm wrought by the Devil's Bagpipe (Luther) and his progeny.
I went through the exact same with the Adventist school I attended throughout my childhood. My home life was always pretty broken on top of that which made things that much worse. I only realize now that the staff was being emotionally and mentally abusive with me (psychically too at one point) when I look back on it.
As a Catholic, I saw the title and thumbnail, opened the video, liked it, and proceeded with my day.
😂😂
Based
The Catholic Church is crap.
Can you give me a summary please?
@@downburst1Protestant work ethic sucks.
My friend, the protestant work ethic has never worked for the majority of people, it was always there to benefit those who wield the most control over society. Be it politicians or business owners or clerics. To be a good protestant is to be a good, willing slave.
Interesting take!
@Synochra_true
David Graeber discussed this in Bullshit Jobs as well!
"Protestant work ethics" is just an excuse for godless capitalists to exploit the good, obedient people. Pretty ironic that most (if not all) of CEOs are never a religious person themselves.
Are you familiar with the idea that we are not saved by works but by faith?. Thats a protestant idea. Working hard does not get you to heaven for protestants.
The entire spectrum of political parties keep saying "jobs" because they know they're speaking to people who are underemployed, underpaid, and have no safety net for healthcare, retirement, end of life care. The voters are lead to believe that "jobs" is somehow a salvation, in a era of escalating automation, and overseas bids. Instead of promising a safety net, and universal abundance in a post-work world; in a post- scarcity world.
Hear hear
They want you only as a slave so they can live in luxury. The only talent they have is to deceive
I think it's also because most Western countries at least have their governments depending on income tax for revenue. That relies on people having income, which is usually linked to a job. That means that to the politician, it's better to have two people doing a job that one person could do with the right tools and automation.
The problem, of course, is that in a capitalist society automation is driven by capitalists who seek to reduce the cost of labor. So when the capitalists buys a machine that lets one worker do the work three used to do, they fire two workers, maybe give the remaining one a small raise, and pocket the difference. So now we have one wage-earner (tax-payer) and two unemployed people (who need to get unemployment benefits and such, and are thus a *cost* to the government rather than a source of revenue). It would be better to keep all three employed 1/3 of the time. But of course, that's no incentive to the capitalist to buy the machine in the first place.
It's almost like you're advocating third way nationalism.
@@BalooSJthe solution even within capitalism itself is quite simple: tax companies and give UBI. Capitalists may not be willing to pay for a worker if automation is cheaper, but if they don't contribute so that people have enough money to buy their stuff then they won't survive. They still keep a big chunk of the value added that their machines produce as profit but the other chunk goes to the jobless working class, without which those machines wouldn't have existed in the first place. Thw philosophy is the following: in a post-scarcity automated world, you can live your life as an average consumer with all needs met, or, if you are more ambitious than that, you can invest in businesses that produce so much value-added that they will not only be able to contribute to the stability and well-being of society as a whole but also make the people who invest in them to keep them running richer. If your business doesn't provide that then either it doesn't produce enough value or it needs to be subsidized because it's a basic need that's simply not (and shouldn't be) lucrative.
I'm so glad I only have to work for 8 months a year to obtain what I want in life. Sometimes people try to guilt me into working more, and I usually give them consideration for all of five seconds before thinking of all the free time I would be missing out on. I quite literally do what you describe in this video, working until I don't have to anymore, then I quit for a time, usually to travel, then get started working all over again. I have a 150 day work season (July-November) and a 90 day work season (January-March), and both are really easy to get through because they are so short.
@@bigpuppyshoes5033 I carry mail for USPS. They have no hiring standards. If there is a position open, you'll get hired if you can walk.
What do you work bro?
@@pavkata97 I don't know why TH-cam didn't notify me about the reply a month ago (great job YT). I carry mail for 5 months and shovel snow for 3 months. It won't work for everyone obviously because it depends on climate.
You dont have children. And most likely you have have some suport from governmet. Yah why not tell everyone how easy your life is.
@@tadasdovii8262 No gov support here :)
Just me doing it myself.
I'm 41 and have felt this way most of my adult life (maybe even as a teenager). It's been a lonely existence.
Sorry to hear this and that we experience this
We should retire at 50 and enjoy life
Me too dude, good to know there are others like me out there!
39 and felt the same for two decades
@@vergonzoso4085 No way we should just work at least 140 minutes less every week
I knew exactly what my calling was when I was young. It was not to work my life away. I was forced into it.
Right?!?!🤬🤬🤬🤬🤬🤬🤬🤬🤬🤬🤬🤬🤬🤬🤬
The error many people also make is that their spending is going up when getting raises or better paying jobs. Why spend so much on things you dont need? Almost anything can be bought except time, Id rather just work less and spend more time with my family and hobbies. So I definitely did my best to get a decently payed job, but only to work as little as I need.
BINGO! You become a slave to materialism like this. Let’s all make more money yes! But let’s remember to live humbly and with just what we need. We can enjoy our hard work too but don’t become a slave to it
And this is EXACTLY what drives inflation the way humans spend as soon as they get a raise!😢 JUST IMAGINE what would happen if people got raises and focused on flourishing/optimisation inst3ad of keeping up with Joneses. 😢
@@nzingahoneynot just this, the billionaires hoarding and hiding all the money also drives inflation.
@ethisfreedom no i don't think so. Inflation is caused by money printing people spending more and businesses needing to raise prices so that they can keep things they supply from getting sold out bc people over buy them. Billionaires are not hoarding money. They manufacture demand of unnecessary things and hoard marginal gains on productivity so we all still have to work despite increasing efficiency of production. Inflation is government and us period
@@ethisfreedomBoth wrong. What drives inflation is the fiat money system, creating currency in order to command production or 'stimulate growth' rather than having a fixed money supply so that price signals are meaningful indicators.
Another great video and topic. As a buiness owner and my own boss I can really relate.
The protestant work etich is something that is schooled into our system by society from a childs age. But for What and for Who? The question is if We are the slaves?
I wish you a merry christmas
I work way too much… I’ve spent my 20’s and 30’s working 80-100 hour weeks… I’m now in my early forties, and I’m trying like hell to get my time back. The wife and I bought a food truck and we are on year four with it. It’s almost to the point where we can take comfortably the winter off with our earnings from the summer.
True freedom means having the choice to work or not. In the current "reality", few people have that choice.
True that!
Your mind controls and creates your reality. Most people have weak minds. 😮.
You can decide to not work but the realities of life will punish you for it. If we want to eat, live in a house etc. we are spending resources. There is no way around that. If you don't provide resources but continue to use them, it's obvious that someone else has provided them for you by working in your place. That's not right either.
@@6kle82 The problem with your reasoning is that it assumes that everyone needs to work in order to have those things, but that couldn't be further from the truth, as mechanization/automation has drastically changed the amount of work that we need to do in order to survive, or even thrive.
"If you don't provide resources but continue to use them, it's obvious that someone else has provided them for you by working in your place. That's not right either."
Why not? If they're awarded more resources than you for their trouble, why would that be a problem?
@@PistonAvatarGuy the extra working people are provided those extra resources from your part .
Imo the basic work ethic returns to us when we play games:
No one keeps grinding in a game once they have what they want.
I‘d be interested to know how a 40 hr work week affects health both mentally & physically
It affects all forms of health very negatively.
I don't need any scientific study to tell me that much...
Have you never had a full-time job? I have and i found them exhausting.
@ yes I do. your point being? (I am also exhausted)
This... this comment was, possibly, more insightful than the whole video.
My goodness, man. I have a lot to think about, now.
The very idea that most of us need medicine to cope with the 40 hour week alone tells you need.
Brilliantly put together. That well-known Simon Sinek talk is really put into its proper context. Another reason why people work so much is fear. With all the wars and raising inflation etc etc, as we've become future-oriented because of our protestant mindset, we worry about retirement well before, some people even in their 20s. Living to contemplate our place in the universe...what a lovely quote of Aristotle. This video really is enlightening, thank you.
Within the mass of trash and foolishness in social media, I appreciate your work and the content that you publish. Thank you for caring and giving.
Perfect topic selection and storytelling.
Having a calling is one thing but turning it into a way to make a living is another. I've been an active musician in my local scene for over 40 years. I always thought that was my calling but I've never made more that a couple thousand dollars a year. Even with the ability to make money online now that hasn't changed the situation much compared to previous decades. There is so much saturation that we're all fighting for time slots for gigs. If I make a few hundred now per year off of recorded music, gigs and merch that's considered a success.
Not everyone "makes it" with the thing they've been doing all their life. But also, anything is possible with the internet today, even though everything related to the creative arts is way oversaturated. The best we can do is try and imitate the ingredients that made others successful and make it our own somehow.
I fell into the sweatshop work ethic for a time, because it seemed to be the logical extension of the work ethic that earned me my technical skills. As a result, I got burned out, and part of my recovery was unlearning the sweatshop mindset. Now, I only want enough, and I want an "enough" that is self-sustaining, so I never stop having enough. It's more important to me now that I get my enough by making a positive difference in the world.
Both Luther and Calvin were known to be difficult people to be around, and their personality issues did affect their protestant theology.
Anyone truly doing a deep dive into Christianity would cease to become protestant. And yet today , (in the United States, I can’t speak for other nations) there has been a very heavy push by Protestants claiming Catholicism is not Christian. This is laughable to the extreme because the statement completely ignores history. It’s like the very edge of a cliff saying to the mountain behind it, ‘’I am the real deal and you are false’’. Luther took out books in The Bible that Jesus Himself mentioned. These are also the books that mention the mirrored horrific circumstances the world will be in in the last days.
Say it as it was: They were both murderous raging psychos. Heck, most prot religious leaders were like that, fanatical irrational madmen. Did i mention they and their masters, the northern european nobility, were sinful and corrupt as heck? So much for "muh our 'reform' is good and justified because muh Catholic Church is corrupt". Criminal hypocrites is what they were. They ruined Europe and the world with their blasted "new religion".
It is also to remember that they were still Catholic, just as Emperor Constantine was still pagan. All they were striving was to reform the Catholic Church to be less corrupt and more closer to scripture. It’s interesting when you study the seven Churches as a prophesied timeline in Revelation 2 and 3 KJV in how Pergymos reflects Emperor Constantine merging the Church with the State, Thyatira reflecting the Roman wand Orthodox Church on how they worship Jezabel and refuse to repent to God, and Sardis reflects the Protestants on how there’s a gathering but are dead.
@datprawn4850 Except they didnt care about corruption. According to Luther, we have no free will and we are all evil so he has no reason to feel "offended" by catholic "corruption". What he loathed, and he said it himself, was catholic doctrine itself and he hated it because it didnt indulge his life of drunkness and impurity. And talking about corruption, funny thing since protestant rulers were far more corrupt and tyrannical than any catholic, one just has to look at german princes, english kings and scandinavian monarchs. Luther himself sided with the rich and powerful to crush and slaughter the masses of peasants he had previously agitated against catholics. If that is not a totally corrupt behavior, i dont know what it is.
And dont make me start with Calvin who was both a sodomite and a murderous tyrannt whose religious dictatorship in Geneva was no different at all from that of a taliban muslim theocracy.
@@datprawn4850I don’t know enough about Luther, but I do know quite a bit about Calvin, Knox, and Puritanism. Calvin was most definitely not a Roman Catholic. Calvin broke with the Roman Catholics in the mid-1530s. He wrote a new theology, The Institutes of the Christian Religion, which sets forth a protestant theology as opposed to a Roman Catholic theology. He denied the authority of the Pope, and (like Luther) placed authority in Scripture. He made many important changes to the communion service. He did not believe the bread and wine were the real body and blood of Christ, (called “transubstantiation”), but that communion bread and wine were symbolic. Where the Roman Catholics had an altar where the priest faced away from the congregation and lifted the body and blood of Christ to God as a sacrifice, the protestant minister had a communion table, and he faced outward toward the congregation, did not lift up the bread and wine, but offered them to his congregation in memory of Jesus. This was absolutely heretical to the 16th and 17th century Catholics, as you can imagine. He had many other big differences with the Roman Catholics. Calvin was definitely not a Catholic. I could go on and on, but I’ll spare you!😀I have a master’s degree in which I specifically studied the origins of Calvinism, in case you’re wondering where I came up with all this.
Fantastic work on content. Thanks!
Thank you Fernando :)
I resented the “Hurry culture” there is a youtube on it, my mother always made me hurry even if there was no need for it. I realized we can organize ourselves so we don’t have to hurry. My mother would say “we’running late”, when I got older I would suggest we plan things so we don’t “run late”. Planning is key and don’t give anything gained to a souless employer who would run you into the ground.
I studied electrical engineering and saw a lot of companies from the inside over the years and the reason we don't automate most jobs (which we could with some effort) is that labor is too cheap and inequality too high. It might sound kinda weird saying labor is too cheap at first. For average people labor is extremely expensive, but for the big companies often owned by extremely rich individuals labor is actually way cheaper than automating even basic tasks, just because their wealth is so enormous compared to what average people have. So innovation is kinda stuck and only done if it basically comes for free or the competition has innovated.
So also here inequality is the main cause of the problem. It does go much deeper than this short explanation, but I guess youtube comments do have a character limit for a reason ; )
Hey, thanks! Do you have any books or articles you suggest I read if I want to understand your point better?
As someone whose day-to-day is basically completely oriented around automating stuff, I think this theory is somewhat correct but also not the entire picture. On the contrary, we simply have too many complex systems to automate -- nothing could change in the business I work for and I'd have 2~3 years of projects in my backlog for things to automate, and yet in reality as the business evolves and other parts of it get modernized and automated, even more things get put into the backlog and what was modern yesterday is tomorrow's technical debt. Pick any industry, and as a consumer one might take for granted that stuff "just works" - orders get fulfilled, shelves get stocked, services get activated, stuff gets shipped, appointments get kept, etc - but actually there are often thousands of background processes at play, often each with their own myriad of edge cases and sub-processes to handle the fallout of any of those steps going sideways. There is a huge amount of investment into automating all of this stuff, but the technical skillset needed to build automation is in short supply.
@@timothymiron3620 Imagine though wages were 4x as high, there would be a lot more pressure on businesses to find simpler processes. Plus if people had more time to reskill, because they were a lot richer, there could be a lot more people working on automation. Right now we have a large part of the workforce which cannot get into these jobs simply because it is not worth it to educate them, just because they come from poorer backgrounds (it is absolutely not efficient, that in germany for example most people at universities have academics as parents).
@@timothymiron3620 And I somewhat disagree that automation skillsets are in short supply, they are right were the market demand is. Otherwise big tech companies would never have done massive layoffs.
@@pericvlor I don't think big tech layoffs say much about the availability of automation skills in the overall economy. Big Tech is one place where there is _not_ a scarcity of this type of skillset. If anything, big tech layoffs are more related to misallocation / over concentration, than serving as any proof of abundance in the economy writ large.
I also don't think its realistic to assume that some large portion of the population would take up automation-related vocations if given the choice. It is already the case that the free market sees engineering type roles of all sorts command relatively higher compensation than many other aspects of the economy.
There's also the problem of much of the work needed requiring not only engineering skills but also deep and often boutique domain knowledge, and the nature of many types of projects being not conductive to being finished any faster by simply throwing more people at them. The book 'the mythical man month' comes to mind here.
Anyways, I think its a relatively nuanced problem.
I do agree with you that to some degree low wages disincentivize the type of step-change investment in automation that would otherwise be pursued, but I work at a company that has at least one single identifiable area of the business that costs over $2 billion/year to operate and has for the past 5+ years thrown similar amounts of money at automating as much of it as possible, but as mentioned the level of complexity that shows up when we try to have 'systems' interface with the messy 'real world' means that much of it remains (for now) needing humans in the loop at the fringes. Artificial Intelligence will unlock huge swaths of this backlog, and to that end the next 3~5 years are going to be crazy, but that's a separate rant.
Traditional work ethic is still the one that makes the most sense. Even in the world we live in today. Just know when enough is enough.
I was struck by a chronic illness 5 years ago which rendered me unable to work. I am fortunate enough that my husband earns enough to support our family. We aren’t rich but perfectly comfortable. We have all we need. However, the level of guilt I have about not being able to work has is huge. I’m in my 50s and spend a lot of time beating myself up for acquiring something completely beyond my control. This seems to be reinforced by the question “what do you do?” when I meet someone new. I stumble for words trying to justify why I am unable to work. I inadvertently feed myself into the “deserving poor” narrative. I believe in the idea of working to gain what you need to survive and the rest of your time is your own. Applying it to myself however seems trickier.
All work and no play makes Jack a dull boy,
All play and no work makes Jack a mere toy.
So, the golden standard of life ought to be
Somewhere in between.
You've communicated this concept so well. I have debated with a friend about the purpose of work a few times and they are strong believers in the Protestant work ethic. I am going to send this to them and maybe it'll help them think outside of that norm a little more, because what I've said never gets through lol.
It’s horses for courses. Some people (actually most people) need work. They need something to put their effort and energy into. I find these people usually don’t have any other passions or interests that they can throw themselves into. So work is good for them.
If you succeed getting through to a Protestsnt you have accomplished something extraordinary.
The world needs to see this. This should be an issue that should unite people.
Another very important and correct video. In this context, it is worth looking for videos on the topic “Human Brain and Default Network / DFN”. The DFN becomes active when we are doing nothing and we are only just learning that it is immensely important, also for our mental health, but not only.
Once again impeccable video from you, dear sir! I worked my ass off the last week up to the point by back hurt and my left big toe went nearly numb.
Thank you! What do you do for work?
Warehouse work - and I guess that combined with a tight work ethic can be a bit.. Devastating, hehe!@@TheMarketExit
@@koyha5266 Do you work long shifts? What country? I also worked at a warehouse once, much of the time we had nothing to do so I spent most of my work days reading books and drinking tea to keep warm in the cold warehouse.
Most of us are not classed as slaves but we are in a system of servitude.
Peoples money can be spent on pointless consumerism but most goes to basic living requirements of rent/morgage. Taxes, utility bills.
A car so that we can get to and from our place servitude to make money so we can pay pur bills and taxes with just enough food so we can stay alive to keep doing this cycle of siht.
Thanks
Köszönöm :)
this is such a great channel, when i saw the amount of views i was in disbelief. keep up the good work, hope the algorithm notices you man!
I hope so too! ;) thank you!
Protestant here. I think there is a massive difference between the work ethic that Luther an Calvin espoused and the post-industrial scheduled tedium that we have in the modern secular world.
The protestant work ethic is right, in that we each have a calling, and we are placed in this world to serve God and other people. We are not here for ourselves. However "serving God and other people" is so much wider than just working for money. It is about taking responsibility for what you have been given, and using that to glorify God to the best of your ability. This includes non-paid material things, like taking care of your living space, and also non-material things like spending time with family and friends. Even enjoying the fruit of your labor is a very protestant thing to do.
Also, the idea of working hard is way older than Protestantism. In fact, I would argue that Protestantism was a fundamentalist movement, trying to get back to what Christianity was originally supposed to mean, and trying to be as close to the Bible as possible. The Bible is full of the importance of hard work. I mean look at the 4th commandment (Work for 6 days, rest for 1) and look at how much hard work is praised by the book of Proverbs.
It is a difference if you work on your own field /own vinyard or as a wage slave for someone else. We use/Bible uses the same word "work" but actually we should have 2 different words for that.
@sheridansherr8974 On the other hand, the New Testament encourages Christian slaves to work heartily. So even as a wage slave, you should work hard. However, this needs to also be seen in the larger context of the New Testament, where love is set as the driving factor for human relationships. So being a hard working wage slave is a way for a Christian worker to love their boss. However, the Christian worker needs to take care to not neglect his love towards his family and other people and things that God gave him.
Profit motive work ethic is not compatible with traditional religion and it is heresy to claim it is "divine" or messianic. You cannot put profit motive over religion and yet claim to follow it when you clearly have stated you follow the former.
Religion does not need modernising or being changed to fit Enlightenment principles. Either follow Orthodoxy or leave and make your own religion.
I don't belong to any religion, but I think the kind of protestant work ethic you describe makes a lot more sense and is actually meaningful and healthy. Work is not just what makes money, and sometimes what doesnt make money could be more meaningful than something that does. Different people also have different callings in life, and that is different from the job society forces you into. People also need rest and taking the neccesary time to rest is not the same as being lazy in my opinion
@@zakosist Yes. Thanks for the constructive conversation. Christianity is an easily-misunderstood religion, and it begs for honest exploration and intellectual effort by those who are inclined to such things. I appreciate the opportunity to share my thoughts.
Even in this video's comments section, someone said that "to be a good protestant is to be a good willing slave." In a way this is true. If our "slavery" adheres to the the principles of glorifying God and loving our neighbors, good protestants will be good and willing slaves. If our "slavery" denies either one of those principles, you will find good protestants to be very unwilling slaves indeed.
I'm all for working and fulfilling a personal calling. However, work isn't just what one does for money. Work is caring for yourself, your family, friends, and your community. Praying, listening, contemplating, studying, exercising, and being present all take energy and, therefore, are a form of work. Meaningful work. I love that you mentioned Erich Fromm. One of my favorite books is "To Have or to Be." We need to go from a having culture to a being culture.
I agree with Oprah that we all have a calling. The biggest problem is that we have tied that to work and/or consumption. Our callings should be and are bigger than that. What do you bring to humanity? It's more than punching a clock, making a product, buying a product, or compiling capital. I would argue that very few people are actually fulfilling their larger calling to humanity.
And how can you even know if you are fulfilling your calling if you don't take time to contemplate about it?
That would explain how some are feeling empty, yet they can't tell why.
I agree.There's a spiritual philosopher named Joel Uilli ( channel: The career archetypes ) who goes into great depth about finding one's calling or purpose. It's not easy when people have worked for survival or fell for overconsumption habits, but it is achievable for all of us.
i think you would enjoy the channel 123homefree.
I read an article comparing work today and in the middle ages. People had more Holidays in the Middle ages and work less than half the days of the year. So, I'm catholic and I expect we will go back to working schedule of the good old times.
Only artisans and other self employed worked the same hours as modern workers.
People also weren't paid back then. You only worked so that the local lord wouldn't run you off the land. Yes, you worked less, but those hours don't include the amount of time you had to spend farming for your own family and stitching up your own clothes. Today you are paid in cash, a universal form of payment - meaning you can at least purchase food and clothing in a matter of minutes instead of having to make them yourself.
I'm not trying to sugarcoat the current-day situation but don't act like they had it better during the Middle Ages.
@Historical-Stuff but with the money I get less than a serf
One thing I don't understand in people is how some people sneer at people who don't want to work 10 hours a day plus 2 hours commuting per day.
Personally I'd probably work better with 4-6 hours per day and then rest.
4-6 h sounds more reasonable to me than 10 h!
Studies have shown that people thrive with a 6 hour work day and their productivity increases
@@stephbutler8704 That's also a stupid take! Work less but more? Why?
@@stephbutler8704absolute bulls--t. Where are your citations and was it a sample of a 100 participants?
Productive people will always be more productive then less productive people. No artificial measure will change this. It's nature which is reality.
@@SeanWaters1120 That doesn't work with any manual labor type job. You can't beat physics.
Social scientist Rodney Stark commented that "during their critical period of economic development, these northern centers of capitalism were Catholic, not Protestant", with the Reformation still far off in the future. Furthermore, he also highlighted the conclusions of other historians, noting that, compared to Catholics, Protestants were "not more likely to hold the high-status capitalist positions", that Catholic Europe did not lag in its industrial development compared to Protestant areas, and that even Weber wrote that "fully developed capitalism had appeared in Europe" long before the Reformation.[38] As British historian Hugh Trevor-Roper stated, the concept that "large-scale industrial capitalism was ideologically impossible before the Reformation is exploded by the simple fact that it existed".[39]
French historian Fernand Braudel wrote that "all historians" opposed the "tenuous theory" of Protestant ethic, despite not being able to entirely quash the theory "once and for all". Braudel continues to remark that the "northern countries took over the place that earlier had been so long and brilliantly been occupied by the old capitalist centers of the Mediterranean. They invented nothing, either in technology or business management".[40]
Historian Laurence R. Iannaccone has written that "Ironically, the most noteworthy feature of the Protestant Ethic thesis is its absence of empirical support", citing the work of Swedish economic historian Kurt Samuelsson[41] that "economic progress was uncorrelated with religion, or was temporally incompatible with Weber's thesis, or actually reversed the pattern claimed by Weber."[7]
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Protestant_work_ethic#Historicity
I think Marx's work explains capitalist development much better than Weber.
Also, "enough" is a really important word. Big conversation.
Your videos are a piece of art. The quality and the message are mind blowing. U deserve millions of subscribers fr
Thank you :)
This is exactly how I will henceforth refer to my persistent habit of excessive online videogame indulgence: "spiritual contemplation".
I like it!
You might find it interesting to listen to Alan Watts. He talks about what people really want to do is sing, dance, put on plays, these things are natural and give us great joy. In 2025 we no longer play communally but we play digitally on tv and movie screens, on social media and TH-cam etc. It’s not the same. Instead of bringing us together the mechanical nature of the delivery ends up isolating us more . Now there is a device, a screen between you and me, it’s no longer about connection but more about status and power. I’m sure this is a road humanity needs to pass through and eventually it will find its way back home.
So what principle is guiding you now? What are you replacing the Protestant work ethic with? Great topic, would love to see more around work, work ethic and jobs.
im not who youre asking, but ... the traditional work ethic, i suppose? work as much as needed and no more. since thats what was talked about, thats what i kinda assumed anyway. but yeah, would love to see more abt implementing that :)
I would agree, with the traditional work ethic where you work until you have what you need. Then do what you want with your time and energy.
@@Slipping_thru_the_Seams Still, with the material abundance that we have today, we would barely need to work if we were to adopt the traditional work ethic, don’t you think? Wouldn’t that be unhealthy also? Maybe that’s my inner protestant work ethic speaking: even though I’m catholic lol.
@joaolira3217 i dont think it would be unhealthy :) i guess it kind of depends on how you define work, play and art; but i think if we do just enough of what we Have To Do, and then spend the rest of our time doing what we want, motivated by pursuing whats fun and interesting, we will incidentally also end up doing useful things, (though not always, but anyway that shouldnt be the focus obviously) and it will be mentally stimulating and relaxing, when the pressure of "Have To" isnt there.
(Universal Basic Income could help a lot w this.)
also i rewatched the video because of this comment chain, and i think the ending of the video was meant to make each of us think about what to replace it with. it doesn't necessarily have to be some framework that already exists. we could come up with some new and more appropriate-to-modern-context way of balancing how we spend our time and efforts.
like, we can be more specific about what's important.
personally, i think the important part of life is whatever i feel interested in at the moment, lol. especially like, learning about things that are tightly woven into my life. but ultimately i can't be maximising for any one value. balance has to always be kept in mind, everything in moderation. its a cliche but its all about Being Present and assessing-as-you-go.
i think the big problem with how the protestant work ethic has seeped into our lives is that we lose our vigilance abt determining our own lives, and just trust that work=good. thats a dead way of thinking.
Seems like that was partially answered in the video, right? There's nothing wrong with a simple life of contented contemplation.
We don't have to be lazy, but we also don't have to help the show runners move a million miles an hour just to create the next thing just so they can 1) weaponize it, 2) use it to obsolete their current workforce, or 3) produce junk no one needs.
And... If the people who can afford to take it easy *do* take it easy, it eases the hustle on the people who are less well off.
The irony of all of this is that it was the entire purpose of "observing the sabbath." Sad that the forgetting of and twisting of it was based off of a reformation along the same branch of religion that recognized the necessity of it in the first place.
What's crazy about that is that almost every problem modern society faces, like severe inequality in the distribution of wealth, ecological problems and climate change etc. comes down to one thing: the capitalistic mindset we get infused the moment we are born. It's all interconnected. We work too much, produce too much, consume too much, and therefore we need more resources than earth can reproduce.
I always found it mind boggling that it is about creating jobs for the sake of it. It's not about how much work has to be done. There is no upper limit. The more the better. And it's paradox because the alleged purpose of people working so much is so they can enjoy life. But for most of us this ends in working too much and living too little.
I think the most important thing is realizing that many of those needs we want to satisfy and that motivate us to work more are created by others so they themselves can sell more, therefore work, produce and earn more, just in order for them to satisfy their own needs that again were created by others through marketing and were then reproduced within society.
The imagination of what makes a good live needs to shift in order for real change to arise.
BTW I really enjoy your channel. Keep up the great work.
Hear hear
To work only just enough sounds great!
One get there more easily by consuming less. Live off the grid?
If you ever find out that "Something better " do let us know because I am tired of the 'grind'. Years and years of it, just to be able to live, to do more of it.
Underlying the question „why work?” is the question “why live?”. One is encouraged to adopt cultural norms, without considering this latter question; hence people readily become functions within a machine. This operates within a regime controlled by a specific form of money (debt-based, compound-interest linked, allied to Capital possession). It automatically demands exponential, unsustainable growth and debt whilst concentrating around quasi-capital, with resultant social and environmental costs. That’s before one even gets into the questionable finance, trade and marketing practices which exacerbate the situation. Driving people apart also helps to create more customers for things which would otherwise be shared. I answer the “why live?” question with “Life is a chance a) to have enjoyable experiences and b) to help other people have enjoyable experiences. If it ceases to be that, I’m off to self-compost. Attached to “b” is my arrogance that perhaps I’m worth more alive than dead; obviously a questionable point.
Great video, thank you. I did an undergrad in religionswissenschaft and we had a number of discussions on this topic. Thanks to the protestant revolution 'god as a judge' became internalized and continuously present for people in protestant / puritan cultures. Feelings of rest and anonymity were replaced by feelings of being observed 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, 365 days a year. Previously 'god as a judge' was mediated through catholic and orthodox clergy in special places, in special ways, with special language, at at special times. So there was less of a feeling of being continuously observed and judged. It's amazing how powerful the ideas of the protestant revolution were! In some ways we're still encoding them into our digital revolution and hustle culture. Glad you're helping to make more people aware of these foundational elements of thought that govern our lives.
Protestantism was probably the greatest tradegy in European and to a great extent world history.
How so?
Read Belloc and you will know.
@@The66-tqst it's rather complex in it's implications and there was some good that came out of it. But overall the trajectory of western civilization was changed forever and I wouldn't say it was for the better.
Causes depression in a lot of people and they self destruct.
@@McCRBen I have my own criticism of Protestantism but I'm curious as to what about Protestantism you think causes depression in some?
Got to confess.... I retired at 32, been playing with the concept for the last 38 years, it's still working (sic) for me
How
haha, I want to retire right now too, how did you retire so early?
This is why i left my marketing job. It paid extremely well but it felt soulless and hollow. Especially at the dawn of mobile apps where i saw what the data was being used for along with how much people blindly spent on mobile apps. I shifted into education and im slowly working towards my end goal for educational reform. Even if im not the “one” to do it, i want to at least know i contributed towards it. Great video
The worst part is that most people work 2000 hrs a year or more and STILL cannot provide what they need, because the companies have taken advantage of this constant stream of labor and essentially made it so you always have a reason to come back to work the next day.
Thanks!
Thanks Stephen!
Part of the problem is our expectations about what we "need" to live a comfortable life. Think about it: our ancestors didn't need to earn money to buy a TV or pay the electric bill. They only bought the absolute basics. If we were prepared to live at the same standard of living our ancestors did it would cost far less.
"pay the electric bill" I pay ~30 EUR per month for the electric bill
that is ~2h of work; that is much less time than I would need to collect wood, build fires, clean out the ash etc. to cook for a full month
only an example - but in that regards it is easier and less work to pay for the electric bill than to accept the living standard of our ancesters
Unfortunately, housing, which is one of our core basic needs, costs a significant percentage of our incomes now - sometimes over 50% of our incomes.
Rent is the biggest issue
They had community and stable housing though, and more free time, which are prohibitively expensive now. TV and similar lixuries are not the reason why we work extra as much as cheqp fixes tot hw.more expensivw things we have lost
@ jt1559
That’s a valid point.
What’s driving a huge part of the struggle are the contributions one has to deliver to the rentier class of landowners and owners of other natural resources.
Economical theorist Silvio Gesell advocated a path between capitalism and communism.
- You own what you build or grow on the land, but never the land itself.
Land should be owned by the community and be for lease only.
When I was child my father took me at visiting his friend living in his old farm in the countryside near Rome (Italy).
It was winter, and I was quite surprised seeing that almost all working activities was stopped during the cold season. Just reparations and minor jobs was carried out in that period, and a lot of time in the farm was spent in talking, staying together, lunch/dinner preparation, visiting neighbors, etc.
I had big eyes because we, in the big city, was working hard everyday, until 22:00 p.m. running like crazy all days in the traffic, weaking up at 7:00 (saturday included), etc. Winter or summer made no difference in our life.
There is something wrong in our "advanced" society...
Great work; The practicality of these views can vary based on individual perspectives and cultural contexts. Weber’s emphasis on the Protestant work ethic has been associated with the rise of capitalism and economic success in certain regions. However, Aristotle’s focus on eudaimonia may resonate more with those who prioritize overall well being and virtue. We must ask ourselves, when contemplating either perspective what constitutes a sense of happiness? Is it practical? In the end, My personal perspective is we are luring to be productive, in turn, this provides us fulfillment. By being productive, we benefit someone else, even if a selfish motive lies between the action and duty. On the behalf of our production, we in turn provide utility to someone else; such as this lovely video. Therefore, utilitarianism may be at the root of the people you mentioned, but then again what do I know, just speculating. Thanks for the video and this thought, Merry Christmas! 🎁
Thanks for interesting thoughts! I agree with you that all of us want to feel useful. There is a risk that we in today's labour society, mainly value our "usefulness" in the labour market (what we do as employees or entrepreneurs) while the usefulness we have in our extended families, in our neighborhood, in our churches, in our sports organizations etc. aren't viewed as "valuable" in quite the same way. Merry Christmas my friend!
Good video. The book Bulllshit Jobs by David Graeber is a must read for anyone exploring how employment today is hateful. A particularly galling insight from it is that arguably the most socially useless work, like marketing, is highly valued and paid, while the most socially important, like teaching or care-taking children is paid peanuts.
I see a video blaming Martin Luther, I click it. It’s that simple.
You don't like Martin Luther, do you? :(
@@gwang3103...
Are you one of those Roman Catholic bigots?💙
Martin Luther isn't really to blame for the modern work ethic. He was just one guy who held an opinion on work being a calling. He was not the first nor the last to say such things. Nothing really changed in terms of work ethic until centuries after his death.
The real genesis of the modern work ethic begins with the Industrial revolution when machines started to compete with human labor. It up ended the social contract of traditional labor and replaced it with a "worse deal" where humans were told to keep up with the machines or else lose their livelihoods.
A fellow Martin Luther hater🤝🏻
Martin Luther sucked 😊
Great video!
The other day, I saw some commentary to an article about “financial independence, retire early.”
One fellow mentioned he did this at age 38 and he found that he was alone.
It seems to me that a lot of people need purpose, and many find that in their work.
There is a WHOLE lot more people who just don’t think they have enough money yet to meet their needs. And yet or who, as you say, feel like they need the newest gadgets all the time and must work to earn them.
All of this coming from a man who does not work the normal schedule.
Absolutely. We live in a huge complex system that is optional. In the 1700s we took a huge lumbering mechanical coal driven lurch to the right and off the path we were on. We have a choice now. There are other ways in which humanity could exist, thrive and co-operate. We have lost sight of it but it is there.
I appreciate what you're doing here, brother. Solidarity from the dystopian United States.
Suddenly I now understand why so many teachers quit after a short number of years.
And no wonder the training, the pgde program that I am enrolled in, to become one, is so painful too .
The thing about the catholic to protestant switch was also the closing of monasteries.
Monasteries were a hub of community building. They were a source of worship, education, medicine and charity, and so people flocked to the monasteries for help. Often villages and cities sprang up around monasteries for that reason.
After the refomation in some areas, monasteries were deemd a bad thing. They got closed by state force, and the lands and wealth belonging to the monasteries went to the leaders of the area. The german princes for example. In Siwtzerland, it was cities who got the wealth of the closed monasteries.
The ones closing the monasteries did usually promise, they would feed the poor and educate and fund hospitals themselves. But doing so is harder than it looks, and people had to fend way more fo themselves.
And so, a' protestant work ethic' sprang up. Pull yourself up by the bootstraps. Your wellbeing is alone your own responsibility.
It feels a bit better to blame the poor for not working enough and make work an inherent virtue, than to feel bad about closing important sources of help for everybody.
By the way: i'm working more than i need to. But not really for money, because my husband takes good care of me. I try to educate children about the faith, so they have a chance to get that peace of mind that comes with trust in God. That peace of mind will hep to not put work first all the time
Of course we should work and keep our body's moving for the mind and body but this working a dead end job so someone else makes all the money is horseshit and I think that's one of the main reasons why people aren't working today
Spot on.
Yes it's both the lack of real purpose, often terrible work deals with low salaries and too long hours, and that just the type of jobs most people do nowadays are unnatural and unhealthy both physically and mentally thats the issue. Humans were made for working on a farm (the old fashioned way preferably) or hunting or otherwise with nature. Not saying everyone should do that. But its something people are much better suited to do and most people would be in a much more harmonious state. We need both the exercise and contact with nature and maybe the sense of actually producing something tangible
I'm in the midst of a rather intense sojourn back to tradition. The process of identifying and destroying the modern underpinnings of my life has been very, very painful and difficult. I want to live life the right way, but feel as though I have no clue. Nothing has been handed down to me that isn't novel or based on clearly the wrong things. Thank you for helping me sort myself out further. I've obsessed and lost peace over this notion of calling for a very long time, and taken great pride in my ability to work above and beyond what is necessary. Thank you for helping me get a little closer to the truth.
Anthropologists estimate that hunter gatherer groups spend about 20hrs per person per week on survival activities.
With their family and biddies, work/hunting/whatever was a social activity
That's because it's pretty hard to hunt and gather in the dark.
@@MatthewVanstonyes, but can be done. Hunter-gatherers also did only the work that they needed for survival, not excess accumulation.
@@robbob022 Yeah and hunters and gatherers didnt have a vast complex modern world of electricity plumbing and shipping lanes to maintain. If you want to work like a hunter you will live like one. No power no, no internet,, no plumbing. Nothing Just a crappy tent structure and a fire. Is that what you want?
It would depend on climate. Hunter/gatherers in seasonal or cold climates would have had to labor not just for food, but shelter, clothing, and heating fuel provisions. You may have needed to barter for some of what you needed. It also required seasonal migration, which is also work.
I really appreciate the message set forth here. The Catholic philosopher Josef Pieper wrote a really good book on the importance of leisure, rightly understood.
I’m all for working to earn bread and a roof over my head. But I’m so drained from living to work that it’s made me sick.
The idea of "holidays" comes from "holy days" in the Catholic Church - solemn feasts throughout the year outside of Sundays but observed as a Sunday when one was obligated to attend Mass and refrain from physical labor. We still have a few of these "holy days of obligation." What irony when Catholics say they can't attend Mass on these days because they have to work!
I dreamed of a perfect society when I was 10-12 and it was something similar to this. You would live in a comunity and basically get everything for free provided that you work for a few hours every day to make it possible to keep things as they are. You could work for more in order to get money and do other things but it would not be required. It is more complex but people said I did not want that and that it sounded like prisson. I later was in prisson for a few months and I swear that it was the best months in my life. I often say that if I didn't need to do crime to get to prisson I would like to live there for the rest of my life.
Really interesting comment!
May i ask why you went to prison?
@@tonyp.bahama9368 how much detail do you want? assault is the short answer.
It exists, It is called Comunism
You're aware prisons cost a lot of money right?
I sense that what you are saying is cutting edge, and will become the model for humanity's future! It is very helpful for me to hear. Thank you SO much!
I wish I could make enough in 2 hours of work to survive the rest of the week. I would retire right now if I could and just ponder my place in the universe.
This is controversial, but working on the things required to make me a better person either mentally or financially, working lots of hours makes me feel so fulfilled and happy
My children go to school for 8 hours and come home with homework that takes about another 2 hours. I get no time with my kids. It's sad.
Just discovered your work🙏
Top notch! It really gives good elements for analysis, deconstruction of certain underlying patterns, opening to ither ways of feeling and being.
Thank you 🌈
One of these days, the issue of "no one willing to work" will end and "no one can work". As soon as there will be a finite number of jobs, and customers to fuel those jobs. But not enough for everyone to work. Even for minimum wage.
Meanwhile still having that work ethic mindset that "if you're not working, then you deserve nothing."
We either need to restore jobs, or change how we do work and live.
Maintaining our system of consumption.
Great video.
Jaw dropping again. You are phenomenol Andres.
Would you mind sharing which pack of SFX do you use in these masterpieces? Would love to get those.
Thanks brother and keep up the great work.
Thank you my friend!
I use Boombox
mtmograph.com/en-es/products/boombox
But TBH some of the best SFX sounds I use come from
freesound.org/
Thanks my friend. Your generosity always amazez me.
Please think about creating a course on how to edit these bangers.
I know many editors including me who are dying to learn from you.
You are certainly on to something with the "protestant work ethic"... I think it goes even beyond work as I have always been amazed at how a lot of protestant culture people treat even their sentimental life as work.. in English you even have phrases like "we must work on our relationship"....
I think another related subject that would be interesting to discuss is the relationship with money ...
I really feel like people are no longer cultivated in appropriate ways, rather we are forced onto procrustean beds for companies to profit off of, but everything just winds up artificially inflating asset prices in a bubble because productivity is stalling for a lot of varied reasons. I think we perfected maximizing outputs but we’ve only started scratching the surface of figuring out how to manage inputs. The idea that if enough is good than more would be awesome seems to not work out the majority of the time.
Some people, like me, enjoy making things, solving problems, and being productive. If you don't enjoy those things that's fine, but many do. I intend to work as long as I can. No disrespect. You do you.
A DC area apartment is 50k today, on the higher end
For 2 bed bath
25k per person
5k for groceries and an unlimited bus pass yearly
30k
Just 100k in tqqq etf would have been enough capital gains for retirement over the last decade
Most Americans can get 100k within a year or two, between hard work and some gifts received from older relatives.
That we work beyond these 2 years or so, is obviously representative of cultural pressures ❤😢❤😢❤
I only started working again 2 weeks ago after staying at home for pretty much all of 2024. I could easily sustain myself just doing as much as I needed, and I had pretty much all week to myself just doing things I enjoyed.
During this time I published a book and even a few albums on spotify, as well as learning a shitton about history and I even became a polytheist.
This is actually not the first time I've done this. Between 2013 and 2015 I lived in Norway and I also stayed home full time between 2010 and 2013 before I moved countries.
All this free time has been hugely beneficial for my own personal development and well being.
Also if there's one advice I can give, stop giving banks your money. Always pay with cash and invest in Gold. I can't stress that enough. ❤
It seems to me that nowadays we work to the detriment of ourselves, of each other, and of the planet..
The economic gap between surviving and being free to do whatever I want is gigantic. I could probably never work again. But that would mean just surviving for the rest of my life. What I want is to be a blessing to those around me. Work gives me the ability to do that.
To say that everyone has a calling is one thing -- saying that we all should work 40hr weeks and overconsume IS ruining our societies. What if my calling is to take care of street cats, or put on musicals with my neighbours? The problem is that we have automated away the need for everyone to work so much, but somewhere along the way it was decided that the only valuable worl - the only valid calling - was to be PRODUCTIVE, and productivity is measures in dollars. More dollars = more moral. Somehow.
You think it was easier in the 1800s, you worked all the time. Farming the land, taking care if the house, mending clothes, food preparation, cutting wood to stay warm, digging wells for water. Life is way easier and comfortable today. We get paid vacation, holidays, sick time. What a soft generation we have become.
I've been living the Aristotle style for the last 3 years ever since I quit my job as a software engineer. I live with my parents now. They pay for everything. I have 100% free time. I do in fact spent most of my time contemplating my existence, the Universe, the spiritual dimension, the sublime, the abstract, the arts, the intellectual, etc.
Can your parents adopt me.
This is my favorite of your videos this year. I really like the straightforwardness and the clear questions. That’s maybe what I liked least about your videos on left-right politics. It gave good background, educated a lot of people on where the idea comes from but left us with no interesting questions. Historically it was great. Scientifically or more accurately sociologically it was a failure. I think the topic is worth a re-visit, however.