Do We Work Too Hard?
As I'm sitting at work, I am conscious of the fact that many people around me work very long hours(I work in a law firm). 60 or 70 hours a week is average for some of these guys, and some of them, longer than that.
Many of them are divorced. Several of them lament the fact that they never spend time with their kids. Many of them don't go on vacation for years at a time. One person told me she hadn't been on vacation in over five years.
I understand that people work as much as they want to, and that businesses are more than happy to let them do it. I would never suggest anything like a mandated vacation time or anything like that...my libertarianism is too strong... [img]/images/graemlins/grin.gif[/img].
But, I wonder about this from a humanitarian point of view. Do we Americans work ourselves to death? I have seen data that says we outwork everyone, including the Japanese(which is saying something). We get less vacation and work more hours than the rest of the world.
As a result, we are very technologically advanced. But, if we are sacrificing so much of our lives, shouldn't we be #1 in everything? Shouldn't we lead the world in all categories related to output? And yet, we don't...so it makes me question why we do it.
Sorry about the hippie post from a generally firebrand free market guy, but frankly, I will never enjoy working more than I will playing...and I can't understand people who don't ever play...and I'm just asking for an explanation.
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