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Why do we live to work rather than work to live? (lemmy.world)

submitted 2 days ago by Naive@lemmy.world to c/asklemmy@lemmy.world

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I heard that back in the days, people used to just go when their work was done on the farms and there was no concept of 9-5 (these days seem 24 hours work). There used to be a lot of holidays. Is that true? If it is, then given the abundance in technology, why our work hours increased and why do we have such weird lives that we live to work?

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[-] CanadaPlus@lemmy.sdf.org -1 points 1 day ago

A handy word that means so little it's never wrong.

[-] jtrek@startrek.website 1 points 1 day ago

The people who do work don't keep the profits of work. People who "own" stuff do.

You have a guy who "owns" a factory. He pays some dudes to make widgets, market widgets, sell widgets. They all get $10 a day. They sell $200 of widgets a day. The guy who owns the operation, who's probably just sitting at home, keeps all those profits. Capitalism.

The workers decide they want more rights. Get paid in real money. Sick time. 8 hour days. Owner says nah. Workers go on strike. Owner gets the police or the army to break the strike with violence. Arrest any leaders they survive. Historical context of capitalism.

Also the guy who owns the factory, maybe he just got it because his grand dad was friends with the king or something. Maybe they killed some natives and the state said the land is yours now.

[-] zbyte64@awful.systems 1 points 1 day ago

You could say the same of history if you know nothing about it

[-] Vanth@reddthat.com 1 points 1 day ago* (last edited 1 day ago)

Bingo. Sort of. It includes a lot, to go with the massive breadth that the question entails.

this post was submitted on 02 Sep 2026

131 points (95.2% liked)

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