20 Hour Work Week

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An employer would rather fire what he considers to be extraneous employs as productivity rises than give all of his employees fewer hours at the same pay, ostensibly for the purpose of remaining competitive. It's crap, but not a whole lot can be done about it.

And it only happens because the system makes most people desperate for employment.  The only way to remedy that would be through government regulations.

In a system where productivity rises and pay and leisure do not (or actually decline as it has for most Americans since 1980), staying "competitive" ultimately just hurts businesses in the long run because the increased productivity will create excess supply while demand remains largely the same.  This drives prices downward and further encourages employers to raise productivity and thin out their workforces in a race to the bottom.

When the capitalists at the top of the pyramid relied on human labor to produce the goods that they sold, it was easy to redistribute wealth.  Now an incredible amount of wealth is gleaned off of non-human labor (with computers/robotics/or simply making money off of money)... and that all concentrates at the tippy top.

Ideally, in a society where technology supplants human labor, people would be paid more and more for doing less and less work... thus enjoying the fruits of innovation and technological advances until eventually much of the economy is automated and we find better things to do with our time with all of the wealth we've helped create.

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The only way to remedy that would be through government regulations.

I have absolutely no faith in a capitalist State within a capitalist framework to actively work against the interests of industry. If the business of the American people is business, the business of the American State is to ensure that the business of the American people remains business. If there exists a solution at all for our economic problems, it lies far beyond the government.

And that would be?  Magical fairy dust?  People acting alone as individuals?

What needs to be done is democratization of the workplace.  The big systemic problem with the U.S. is that we demand one man, one vote and a say in the political process... but are just fine going to work in an authoritarian totalitarian regime every day.  Corporations should be done away with in favor of employee owned businesses where every employee gets one vote on company policy.

If we did that, I think our nation would be much happier, less stressed out, and generally more prosperous.

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Would the democratization of the work place ensure workers decide to work 20 hrs per week for full wages? Perhaps if the employees are idiots, but in all likelihood, no.  You might not get a full 40 hours, but I think the workers will see the benefits of more productivity.

But that's the good thing about co-ops and such. The workers decide how many hours are good for them. Perhaps they can make a good wage at just 20 hrs. Perhaps it would require 60 hrs. It all depends on them.

I agree wholeheartedly.  Why should we demand democracy and freedom at home but be expected to blindly accept fascist autocracy in the work place?