It’s really interesting for me coming into threads like this. The vast majority of people that I see discussing these things seem to have office jobs consising of largely arbitrary objectives and deadlines. And for these people it would almost certainly be true that society could get by with minimal change if they only worked 2 or 3 days a week. It’s an interesting perspective to me because I work in a veterinary medicine where (just the same as with human medicine) long weeks and long hours are practically a necessity. Very, very rarely do I find myself doing anything that is an unnecessary task, something that could be done later, or something that could be automated. While it would technically be possible to just hire more people and rotate shifts through the hospital to allow shorter work days for everyone, cutting days decreases the consistency of care (i.e. increases the number times a patient is transferred between doctors) which dramatically increases the chances for medical errors. Plus that doesn’t even take into account that there is a dramatic hiring shortage so good luck ever finding enough people to make that work in the first place.
While I agree that a lot of people work jobs that have more hours than things to do during them, I notice all the time in these threads people claiming that “no one ever needs to work more than a handful of days a week” while not acknowledging that a lot of jobs exist where that just isn’t possible.
Well that’s because those jobs are managed and staffed for “capitalist efficiency” if we had more people with access to veterinary training we would have WAY more vets than just those who can afford the schooling, and I assume, low pay. then you could work 2 or 3 days a work on shifts with 2 or 3 times as many coworkers and support staff
It’s the whole rotten system that makes things shitty for those of us with actually important meaningful jobs, but it doesn’t have to be that way
Did you read my comment at all? There are a lot of reasons beyond “capitalist efficiency” that a 2 or 3 day work week is impractical in a medical field. I even brought up a major one that you conveniently ignored.
I’m not at all trying to say that there aren’t problems with work culture, especially in medicine. I’m simply pointing out that the claim “no one ever needs to work more the 2 or 3 days without capitalism” falls apart when you start looking at jobs outside of pencil pusher desk jobs.
oops, sorry, I did miss that part of your comment accidentally. You’re definitely not wrong about that part not being as simple as availability of skills
It could at least be alleviated by having some sort of rotation system where you get extended periods of lighter duty or time off so you aren’t just ground into dust. I didn’t mean to make it seem like I was saying categorically no one will work more than 2 or 3 day weeks, but a similar effect could be worked towards. Basically, I’m just saying shit doesn’t have to be fucked.
I should also mention, I also work a job that even in an ideal communist space future, I would still probably work 4 or 5 days a week by necessity, my life just wouldn’t be hellish
It’s really interesting for me coming into threads like this. The vast majority of people that I see discussing these things seem to have office jobs consising of largely arbitrary objectives and deadlines. And for these people it would almost certainly be true that society could get by with minimal change if they only worked 2 or 3 days a week. It’s an interesting perspective to me because I work in a veterinary medicine where (just the same as with human medicine) long weeks and long hours are practically a necessity. Very, very rarely do I find myself doing anything that is an unnecessary task, something that could be done later, or something that could be automated. While it would technically be possible to just hire more people and rotate shifts through the hospital to allow shorter work days for everyone, cutting days decreases the consistency of care (i.e. increases the number times a patient is transferred between doctors) which dramatically increases the chances for medical errors. Plus that doesn’t even take into account that there is a dramatic hiring shortage so good luck ever finding enough people to make that work in the first place.
While I agree that a lot of people work jobs that have more hours than things to do during them, I notice all the time in these threads people claiming that “no one ever needs to work more than a handful of days a week” while not acknowledging that a lot of jobs exist where that just isn’t possible.
Well that’s because those jobs are managed and staffed for “capitalist efficiency” if we had more people with access to veterinary training we would have WAY more vets than just those who can afford the schooling, and I assume, low pay. then you could work 2 or 3 days a work on shifts with 2 or 3 times as many coworkers and support staff
It’s the whole rotten system that makes things shitty for those of us with actually important meaningful jobs, but it doesn’t have to be that way
100% the problems in our society start to make alot more sense, when you ask yourself if removing the profit motive would solve the problem
Did you read my comment at all? There are a lot of reasons beyond “capitalist efficiency” that a 2 or 3 day work week is impractical in a medical field. I even brought up a major one that you conveniently ignored.
I’m not at all trying to say that there aren’t problems with work culture, especially in medicine. I’m simply pointing out that the claim “no one ever needs to work more the 2 or 3 days without capitalism” falls apart when you start looking at jobs outside of pencil pusher desk jobs.
oops, sorry, I did miss that part of your comment accidentally. You’re definitely not wrong about that part not being as simple as availability of skills
It could at least be alleviated by having some sort of rotation system where you get extended periods of lighter duty or time off so you aren’t just ground into dust. I didn’t mean to make it seem like I was saying categorically no one will work more than 2 or 3 day weeks, but a similar effect could be worked towards. Basically, I’m just saying shit doesn’t have to be fucked.
I should also mention, I also work a job that even in an ideal communist space future, I would still probably work 4 or 5 days a week by necessity, my life just wouldn’t be hellish