Bernie: Here’s a bill that will help literally everyone. People waste less of their lives at work, and productivity goes up massively for the corporate overlords. There is no downside here for anyone.
Everyone: Shut up, hippy.
Bernie: Here’s a bill that will help literally everyone. People waste less of their lives at work, and productivity goes up massively for the corporate overlords. There is no downside here for anyone.
Everyone: Shut up, hippy.
Everyone: Shut up, hippy.
They've been telling him that since he was being arrested for protesting for civil rights and Joe Biden was fighting against school busing...
Their stupid bullshit hasn't stopped him yet
Bernie is still the only politician I have donated to but to be fair to Biden, bussing was met with violent protests and even black activists criticized it for weakening black communities. There were good reasons to be against that method without being against desegregation.
We need this so fucking bad. As a species, not just America or the wealthy nations only. Everyone.
And this should just be a transitionary period down to a 24 or less hour work week. Fuck slaving away at shit jobs just to make billionaires.
We need this so fucking bad.
Of course we do, so do the corporations, though they don't realize it. With happier workers you get more profits.
Call your House of Representative member and let them know that.
If we citizens don't apply the pressure, nothing will happen.
And if your cynical about doing that, try it anyway, just as an experiment, to see what happens. Hell, even make a YouTube video about your experience doing so, for content.
Just say "Please let my representative know that I am in favor of the Bernie Sanders bill (Thirty-Two Hour Workweek Act) for a 32 hour work week."
It's just a phone call. A 32 hour work week is worth a single phone call, right?
When COVID shut down my state (we were considered essential) we got furloughed one day a week. I was getting paid less so I was concerned, but it was honestly the best thing to happen to me. We started a garden, I got so much more done. I was healthier and happier.
Going back to 5 days a week, and longer commute (no more COVID clear freeways), I can absolutely feel my life shortening. I've gained a ton of weight, and increased stress significantly.
Yea, slaving away should be purely optional. If you love your job or you love money or you want to keep yourself distracted AND make money at the same time, by all means, knock yourself out and work 60 hour weeks.
It's a failure of the system if people have to work full time to scrape by with the very bare necessities and live in poverty, with all the nasties that come with it. America coined the term "working poor" (obligatory meme so we're on the same page)
Looking at the productivity gains, vs income gains since 1970, I would say that we need an 8 hour work week. We are producing well over 7 times as much stuff and economic value as we were in 1970
We should produce less stuff.
The amount of shit that companies produce and then just throw away because it's cheaper than donating, is staggering. There was some report a while back about Amazon doing this. Truckloads of stuff that doesn't sell, brand new, straight to the landfill. Stuff that could be donated to public schools or whatever. Fucking gross.
Not to mention all the food we produce, then waste.
Nonono don't do it!!
Just look how it went in Germany, they went from 40 to 35 and then last year they overtook Japan as the 3rd largest economy in the world.
But if they had kept 40 hour work week, they might have done that a year earlier.
I tell you 32 hour work week will be an absolute disaster, marriages will break because people will have time to spend together. This is why the christian right will oppose this tooth and nail, and you should too.
/s
Inb4 Fox News later today
I'll tell you hwat. 32 hour work week will be an absolute disaster, marriages will break because people will have time to spend together. This is why the christian right will oppose this tooth and nail, and you should too.
I don’t see a path forward that doesn’t start with the US government making the change first. They are one of the only employers that don’t have market competition.
Some departments in the US government give you a paid time off day every week to use however you want. A lot of people would take every Friday off, or some would stash them for a longer vacation.
It's wild to me how internally the government offers the kind of benefits politicians should've pushed into law a long time ago. It really is "for Me, not for Thee".
Source: worked in one of those departments
I work in the Federal Government, and this isn't true. You have alternative work schedules (4/10s, 5/4/9, maxiflex, etc.) but you're still going to work 80 hours unless you take leave. You gain annual leave every pay period and the amount is dependent on how long your federal service has been. But when you start (1-3 years) you only get 4 hours per pay period.
Maybe you're seeing people who have long federal service (15 years) that gain 8 hours/pay period use their leave. That's their choice but they're still working 40 hours on paper regardless.
As a European libertarian, americans and people in some far eastern countries work at their jobs way too much. It's harmful in every kind of way imaginable. I don't understand why it's done.
I get that some profession may benefit from it, but having standard office personnel sit at their desk 12 hours every day? What the fuck. I refuse to believe this improves company profits in 90% of the companies.
I'm self employed.
There's an infinite amount of work for me to do, but like most professions its intellectually, emotionally and mentally taxing.
Honestly, I can't do much more than 4 hours of real actual work per day.
I had a US colleague that was ranting to me (a European) that people would still take calls just before having surgery and the moment the anastatics would have worn off work again. So I asked why not root for Bernie as he wants to do a more Scandinavian model (did not use the world socialism because reasons). Answer was no, would not be able to vote for him. Well........
Man, you're talking about a "radical", "extremist" politician who self-identifies as a (democratic) socialist.
Here in the US, most people from the poorest, least-educated states will simply never vote for a Democrat. That's not an exaggeration. The only reason Nikki Haley got so much attention despite never being viable is because with our 2-Party system she was considered the only non-Trump option for many people in these flyover states. Add in the outsized influence they have in the Senate and the undemocratic Electrical College... We're fucked.
Sometimes I imagine what America would be like if Bernie had enough votes to pass his bills.
He also spoke earlier about Israel breaking the US law by disrupting Us Humanitarian Aid.
Incomplete article by The Hill... Actually, the more I look at it this is a bad article. The only current bill introduced to the Congress is from last year by a different Representative. Bernie put out yesterday (the 13th) that he will be introducing a bill on Thursday the 14th (2024-03-14). It's only 0600 local time Washington, D.C. so it hasn't happened yet. And it would be very strange to he is introducing another act in the same session (118th).
H.R.1332 - Thirty-Two Hour Workweek Act since they couldn't even link to the bill.
Congress.gov has the sponsor as Rep. Takano, Mark [D-CA-39] (Introduced 03/01/2023).
Long title: Official Title as Introduced
To amend the Fair Labor Standards Act of 1938 to reduce the standard workweek from 40 hours per week to 32 hours per week, and for other purposes.
I've noticed that I get the same amount of work done working 5 days a week as if I plan to only work 3/4 days and know I'll have some free time to enjoy life. My work is really project based so as long as it gets done no one cares.
My wife has also noticed that I'm a lot more stressed when I work 5 days a week and need pretty much the whole weekend to recover.
It's LONG overdue. Been saying this for years. Reducing the stress, increasing free time (and therefore things like family time, innovation time, etc.) would vastly overhaul our society. Productivity has risen for decades while wages remain stagnant and work-life balance, if anything, has worsened.
Bernie is an example of what a progressive politician actually looks like.
American politicians (Republicans AND Democrats) have been moving steadily to the right for the last 40 years. So now, Democrats are where the Republicans were in the 1980s, boring corporatists and friends of banks, pharmaceutical and insurance companies.
And the Republicans have moved all the way into an insane asylum. They long for the "good old days" of company towns, run by 19th century robber barons and worry that the six corporations that control all our news are the "liberal news media."
This will never pass because we aren't seen as people with families and lives. We're seen as labor. Tools to keep the machine running and making money for corporations and its executives.
While a small tangent, I agree. I used to work 4x10 each week. Had done that for over a decade. Having a 3 day weekend really helped. When I got my current position I was moved to 5x8. I'm now endlessly tired, I can't get the weekend projects done, etc. Because you're just getting out of work, or getting ready to start work again, there's no break. So if this ends up being 4x8, that would be great! Keep my hours and get my weekend back. Though I assume corporate USA will find some way to muck it up, like the RTO bullshit.
This makes the election really simple later. Vote against whoever opposed or brought any friction to this bill whatsoever...which will be pretty much everyone.
America should make Bernie their Emperor.
It would have been really nice to have had him as a president for a term. He'd be doing all the same things he's doing now, but with more authority. It would have been really interesting to watch mainstream media have a meltdown over everything he put forward.
I often dream of that alternative universe where Bernie became president instead of Biden...
The only way that we can remain competitive in the global marketplace is to squeeze the workers to the greatest extent that biology will allow. If that means slavery, mind control and death-at-30 then so be it. We must remain competitive
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