Friends, this week's Newsmaker Show considers some jaw-droppingly important storylines in the news. Has your jaw dropped yet? It soon will! Brian and I ponder Russian advances in Ukraine and what they mean for the long-term trajectory of the war, the Trump and Biden victories in New York State's presidential primaries, the state of the polls in the states that truly matter, Trump's decision to hawk fancy patriotic Bibles to promote himself as a "Christian" conservative, the prospects for the extradition of Julian Assange, the simmering and very consequential feud between RFK, Jr. and the Democratic Party, the role that the House of Representatives can and should play in the presidential election, whether Dulles airport is likely to be renamed for DJT anytime soon, and the banning of the private funding of elections in the purple state of Wisconsin.
When we get to "This Day in History", we consider the historical context in which the assassination of MLK occurred in 1968, the significance of the opening of the World Trade Center in 1973, and the nature of the fighting in WWI.
Hopefully your jaw doesn't hurt excessively from all that stupefaction, because it's about to be tested AGAIN, as I reveal my latest article below...
https://wlea.net/newsmaker-april-4-2024-dr-nick-waddy/
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And now...as promised, here's my fascinating take on Bernie Sanders' proposal for a four-day work week here in these United States. See if you agree or disagree!
A Four-Day Work Week Isn't Such a Bad Idea
Recently, Senator Bernie Sanders, socialist gadfly, proposed that the U.S. federal government should mandate a four-day, 32-hour work week. Before we conservative free marketeers recoil, let's consider the merits of his idea.
Sanders says that U.S. workers work considerably more hours every year than their counterparts in other developed countries. He's right. To make matters worse, as anyone in the private sector knows, employers are finding new and creative ways of squeezing even more productive labor out of their workers, even when, and maybe especially when, the theoretical “workday” is done. All these extra hours worked mean less time with our families, less leisure, and more stress – and it's not clear, based on numerous studies, that more hours of work necessarily even yield enhanced productivity or greater overall production.
The concept of a four-day, 32-hour work week may seem fanciful, but readers should recall that, before the institution of the five-day, 40-hour work week under President Franklin Roosevelt in 1938, there was equally vociferous opposition to that idea, and equally extravagant claims that such a provision would be fatal to the engine of capitalism. Indeed, it was not so very long ago that average workdays were more like 10, 12, and even 14 hours. Did the curbing of such excesses eliminate competition, obliterate the incentive to work, or dent the standard of living? If they did, people seem pretty happy with the results!
In addition, consider that the accelerating pace of automation, the outsourcing of many economic functions, and the vast potential of artificial intelligence to diminish the demand for, or even render obsolete, many categories of work, all point to a future in which fewer employees will be able to accomplish much, much more – and the U.S. economy will hum along very nicely even with a relatively small percentage of the population engaged, in general and at any given time, in productive work. Indeed, this is already the case. The labor force participation rate has been trending down since the mid 90s, and with no discernible ill effects, in terms of productivity or the rate of economic growth.
Conservatives will argue that massive changes to the structure of the economy and the nature of work, enforced by government fiat, are always bad. That being said, few conservatives are demanding the repeal of the five-day, 40-hour work week, and, as it turns out, the leisure and the quality of life that those federal regulations have engendered are the prerequisite for whole thriving industries in modern America, like tourism, gaming, entertainment, and so many more. Would Americans really be better off if they went back to working 10, 12, or 14 hour days? No? Then why is it so hard to imagine that our collective well-being might not be similarly enhanced by the phasing in of a four-day, 32-hour work week?
Concerns about excessive government micromanagement of private enterprise are valid, but, compared to the thousands of petty rules and regulations that the government enforces – selectively – every day, a mandate for a four-day, 32-hour work week would be a very blunt instrument of federal policy, and it would apply equally to every business, giving none of them an artificial competitive advantage. Much like the minimum wage, it would be a simple, straightforward regulatory measure that would change the lives of tens of millions of people, for the better, without inserting new layers of bureaucratic oversight and interference in the capitalist system. Indeed, the federal agencies and mechanisms needed to enforce limits on the numbers of hours workers may work already exist, and there is no particular reason why the institution of a four-day work week should require the expansion of any agency's budget, the hiring of a single new federal worker, or even the passage of a new law, since the amendment of the Fair Labor Standards Act would suffice.
In short, the movement to a four-day, 32-hour work week would bring the U.S. more into line with the labor practices of other developed countries – countries in which people seem, broadly speaking, to be happier than they are here. It would enhance the quality of life for almost every American. And it would do all this in a streamlined, elegant way that would empower workers themselves, rather than politicians or government functionaries.
“Work hard, play hard” has long been a popular axiom in America. Maybe it's time we did a little less of the former, and a little more of the latter...in the national interest, of course!
Dr. Nicholas L. Waddy is an Associate Professor of History at SUNY Alfred and blogs at: www.waddyisright.com. He appears on the Newsmaker Show on WLEA 1480/106.9.
And here it is at World Net Daily:
https://www.wnd.com/2024/04/bernies-4-day-work-week-idea-crazy/
RAY TO DR. WADDY AND JACK
ReplyDeleteA 32 hour work week is just the sort of convoluted logic of an idea this old Leftist Crack Ass would come up with. Translated, all his proposal says is that a lot of people are already so damn lazy they are becoming immune to work, and especially in local, state and federal governments.
As it is, a large part of the population goes by the slogan of "Give Me a Month's Pay for possibly two weeks of actual work, if even that much." People need to work instead of taking the attitude that work is some sort of damn curse. Even if such a law passed, time not working would be spent stuffing more junk food into pie holes, while doing this and that (mostly silly bullshit) on their cell phones.
The best thing Bernie could do for this country and the world is to leave it. Makes me wonder how much work this old pissant has actually done in his life besides flap his F*g gums, shit, eat and sleep.
Corrected to read "allergic" to work. In any event, my main point is that people need work. Again, work is NOT some sort of a curse, although many act as if it somehow is.
DeleteRAY TO DR. WADDY AND JACK
ReplyDeleteAs far as Bibles go, browse around a bit, and you will find that most Bibles are over priced, and a large number are printed in China (PRC). Pushing patriotism and mixing politics with sacred scripture is not new. Take a look at "The American Patriot's Bible" which has been around for some time now.
Hundreds of Study Bibles out there for decades now, and more than a few named for a person. Don't take my word for it. A good place to start is ChristianBooks online and you will see for yourselves just how many Bible translations and versions of the Bible there are, and again at very high prices.
Trump's so called Bible is just another example of people attempting to
promote themselves on an equal level with God. Can't believe Trump did this, but his ego is huge, so why not.
Hey Nick! You need a study Bible with your notes and articles in it, and you too Jack. It can be done Amigos!
RAY TO DR. WADDY AND JACK
ReplyDeleteIf Dulles (International) Airport (named for John Foster Dulles, who was Eisenhower's Secretary of State) is renamed DJT Airport at any time in the future, it is a testimony to the stupidity of whoever thought such Bullshit up.
Ray, I agree with you about the redeeming nature of work, all things being equal. What's more, people without work, or without some kind of occupational purpose in life, can easily drift in the direction of self-loathing and depression. However, I disagree that the numbers of hours worked necessarily correlates to the satisfaction gained. In addition, I would remind you that one of the purposes of reducing the days/hours worked by the average worker would be to give more people the chance to work. So it's a complicated set of variables, if you get my drift.
ReplyDeleteRay, a good friend once gave me a Jimmy Swaggart study Bible. It was a very kind gesture, and I'm sure Swaggart profited considerably from it. Now, there's nothing inherently wrong with a study Bible, but this specimen had, if anything, more of Swaggart's "wisdom" in it than God's. I think I'll stick with God, but that's just me.
RAY TO DR. WADDY
ReplyDeleteThat would be Jimmy Swaggart's Expositor's Bible. As you already know, Swaggart's comments are inserted in the text in red, whereas other pastors put their notes at the bottom of each page. Also, the KJV has been modified by Swaggart for easier reading, but other pastors past and present have, in some cases, produced their very own translations of The Bible.
Whether I like Swaggart or not is neither here or there, but my defense of what he has done with his Bible is nothing new. Lutheran Church Missouri Synod still praises to the sky, and has made available, The Kretzmann (spelling) commentary produced by one of their own pastors 100 years ago, with his comments woven into the text exactly as Swaggart has done.
The only reason Swaggart is blasted is that he could not keep his Johnson in his pants, but after he was "defrocked" from Assemblies of God, he kept right on going with even greater success. Go figure.
*****Still don't agree with you about the reduced work week. However, if the powers that be ever reduce it, there is nothing I can do about it.*****
Dr, Waddy from Jack: Re the Newsmaker broadcast: WWI: Its no original idea I know but I think the physical horror of WWI was intensified by its contrast to the optimistic Edwardian age. "Abandon all hope. . .": Dante's depiction of the utter impossibility of redemption from hell, might well have moved millions driven to madness by that unprecedented, fantastic catastrophe ,1914 - 1918 and beyond. What if the German 1918 offensive had succeeded ( which requires presuming non participation by the US). Having taken France, would the boche have incorporated it into their empire? Shades of a renascent Carolingian or even Holy Roman empire. Would Britain have been forced to finally countenance a single dominant power in Europe? Had their postwar leadership been the same, it would seem likely. Would the boche have made short work of Russian marxism or in attempting it have been repelled by Russia's monstrous winter and endless space? Though not insane like Hitler, would heartlessly ambitious Wilhelm II have looked to expand his empire by invading prostrate China further; if so, how might Japan have reacted? Would he have used his Uboat horde to cut Britain's contact with India? Was an eventual reckoning with America by a Germany possessing technically advanced weapons developed in part by unholocausted scientists like Einstein, in the offing? Would a Germany with its appalling dynamism confirmed by victory have developed into a threat so great as to be impossible to live with?
ReplyDeleteDr. Waddy from Jack: As is typical of your principled objectivity you have presented a plausible argument in favor of Sanders' proposal. But I cannot support such a measure when it is advanced by one of Sanders' far left bonafides and which predictably requires government coercion .
ReplyDeleteDr. Waddy from Jack: In having looked back at recent posts I found your suggestion that my view of Japanese population density having generated a mannerly civilization is perhaps gainsaid by the disorder so obvious in many modern cities. Japanese culture was heavily influenced by that of China; Chinese customs were sometimes very deliberately imitated. The glorious Tang dynasty impressed the Japanese very much. I think Confucianism, which enjoins self effacement, may have been a significant factor in the evolution of a Japan in which conflict is to be avoided by adherence ( disdain for which is shameful, in a land in which shame is hard to bear) to formulae already established specifically for expected situations. Eg. Japanese businessmen, upon meeting, exchange cards containing their curriculum vitae. This confirms one as senior. Appropriate forms of address, deference and cooperation thereby commence.
ReplyDeleteDr. Waddy from Jack: At its core, work for hire is an agreed upon exchange of labor for compensation. For most of history it has been for most people an onerous physical burden undertaken out of fundamental necessity. Yes having performed it well is for some a source of personal enhancement and satisfaction . Blessed technological advances have delivered very many from unrelenting physical drudgery and for the first time the astonishing prospect of not having to work at all has some plausibility. But what does someone like Sanders know of any of this? His experience is in promoting and helping to mandate social artifice informed only by conjecture and proven in practice to be unrelenting totalitarian dictatorship and catastrophically unjust. Of course it is; it is based on dreams, not on experience and the wisdom it imparts. He should repair to the compromised American academy, where his ilk thrives in effete detachment from reality.
ReplyDeleteDr. Waddy from Jack: I mistook by suggesting that a 32 hour work week would be unrelentingly totalitarian and catastrophically unjust. But when it is advanced by an activist possessed of the bad will engendered in determination to "fundamentally transform" an imperfect America, it is , rather than a benefit for workers, a step toward their eventual subjugation. Its smug disdain for the bottom line, manifested in government command to business to pay the same (and presently, more) for reduced productivity provides precedent for continued and expanded government overreach on the incipient path to totalitarianism which is the goal of such as Sanders.
ReplyDeleteRay, I don't question Swaggart's sincerity in wanting to bring the Christian faith to more people. No harm in that. Sometimes I found his commentary...speculative, or misleading, or a "reach" from what the plain wording said. But then Swaggart is only doing with the Bible what virtually every Christian does: seeing in it what he wants to see, and reading into it what he wants to be there. I guess that's the beginning and end of my argument for why the Bible is probably best read in as original and pure a form as possible.
ReplyDeleteBoy, lots of intriguing speculation there about the likely impact of a German victory in WWI... Having tamed both France and Russia, it would be hard for anyone to gainsay Germany's dominance on the Continent. Having said that, you would think the Anglo-Americans would strike back eventually, and you might also question the degree of control that Germany could exercise over so vast a region (think: Napoleon). Personally, I'd take the Germans over the Russians as a prospective superpower any day (or almost any day), but the imponderables are so numerous and...tough to ponder...that I haven't a clue whether we'd be better or worse off in the scenario you describe. I do think the preservation of a conservative, monarchical order would have been more feasible, and the utter destruction of Marxism might also have been within reach. Then again, maybe the Germans would have kept Lenin around as a favorite pet.
Jack, I'm no expert on Asian culture, but isn't a proclivity for "order" and collectivism, and maybe for shame avoidance, a more or less universal tendency in the East, at least compared to the West? Or maybe it isn't. You have more data to draw on than I do. If it is, then wouldn't one be justified in opining that the East Asian "personality" might be partly inborn?
Hmm. I guess I find it hard to view any and all governmental interference in the free market, or coercion in the (alleged) interests of workers, as part of a totalitarian and diabolical plot to extinguish human freedom. If the 32-hour work week is so beyond the pale, then why isn't the 40-hour work week? I think, in fact, that most of the people who first suggested government-mandated limits of hours worked were not only NOT socialist, but probably had little or no concept of socialism, and certainly not Marxism. Remember, back the in the 19th century, it was the Conservatives who introduced a lot of social welfare legislation -- and Bismarck who did so in Germany. It was "liberals", who were free marketeers back then, who balked. Anyway, it seems to me fairly subjective when precisely governmental oversight becomes governmental oppression. If you can suggest an objective standard, I'm all ears!
Dr. Waddy from Jack: If a person of good will knocks on my door I gladly admit them; if it is one of demonstrated bad will, I do not. The immediate act is virtually the same but the expected motives are opposite. You have raised plausible arguments, manifesting good will, for the 32 hour week but I cannot expect from one devoted to the "un Americanization" of America anything but dissembling in any effort he makes. More presently. . . .
ReplyDeleteDr. Waddy from Jack: Shame in E. Asia: "face" is very important in China but I'm not sure that loss of it is closely analogous to shame . In the Malay cultures of Malaysia and Indonesia and the Malay/Hispanic one of the Philippines, I am not sure of how shame and its imposition are regarded. I can think of no other E.Asian country with the intensely restricting effect of the topography of the not very large or extensive. Japanese islands. Mundane order in traditional China was enforced by the clan and arable China is vast. There probably are significant cultural differences between the rice eaters of the south and the noodle eaters of the north. Aside from those differences obtaining in different inherited personal metabolisms, I cannot picture personality anywhere being physically inborn. But my knowledge of psychology is almost nil. Perhaps one's cultural environment from birth does make certain cultural traits inborn in their dominating effect. Japan, I think, has a unique culture at its essence.
ReplyDeleteEast Asian culture is an inscrutable labyrinth to me, but there's more and more evidence that many characteristics, including elements of personality, are partly inborn -- some more than others, according to the experts. For example, differences in intelligence turn out to be mostly genetic or heritable, from my understanding. I think, if you do the math, so to speak, it's highly likely that some of the broad differences in culture that we see between, say, Westerners and Easterners are explainable by genetic factors. I hasten to add that none of this makes one "civilization" better than another. It just means that we are all just different flavors of humanity.
ReplyDelete