The True Reason behind the 40-Hour

Work Week and Why We Are Economic

Slaves

May 28, 2015 - Economic slavery, or wage slavery, refers to ones total and immediate
dependence on wages to survive. Although people throughout history have had to work to
get by, we now live in a culture where we are led to believe we have economic freedom,
when unbeknownst to most citizens, we are in fact bound in servitude. We automatically
accept a 40-hour workweek with meager hourly pay as normal, even though many work
overtime and still struggle to survive. There are also those who make enough to live
comfortably but are unable to request less hoursyou either work 40 hours a week, or
you dont get to work at all. We submit when told what to wear, when we have to arrive
and depart, when were allowed to eat, and even when were allowed to use the restroom.
How is it we have come to allow this?

The 40-hour-work week came about during the Industrial Revolution in Britain
when at one point workers were putting in 10 to 16 hour days and began to
protest. Working situations for Americans began to worsen as well, and by
1836, labor movement publications were also calling for a 40-hour workweek.
Citizens in both situations were so overworked, an eight-hour day was easily
accepted. This system is unnecessary now, if it ever was, but we still accept
it due to the effects of our capitalist society.
There are many contributing factors that have led to our current economic
system and continued acceptance of the 40-hour workweek, three major factors
being consumerism, inflation, and debt. First, its important to understand
exactly what inflation is, how it works, and how it leads to debt.
Inflation:
To put inflation simply, lets say the U.S. government needs money for
whatever war theyve decided to wage this year. They ask the Federal Reserve
for a loan, and the Fed agrees to buy bonds (sort of like IOUs) from the
government in the amount of the requested loan. The U.S. government then
prints up a bunch of pieces of paper that say Treasury Bond while at the
same time, the Federal Reserve prints up a bunch of little pieces of paper
that we know as money. A trade is made between the government and the Federal
Reservethe bonds for the moneyand the U.S. government directly deposits
this newly printed money in a different bank, which in turn, takes its cut
in fees and interest. Voil, money has been created out of thin air.
Although this process takes place electronically now (only 3% of money is
in physical form, the other 97% exists in computers) the problem either way

is that it depletes the worth of the dollar. At one point in time, currency
was worth gold. That was what gave money its value, but now the value of money
is trusted to the Federal Reserve who has no moral objections to reducing
that value by printing more money (basically legal counterfeit). For the cost
of printing, the Federal Reserve creates money that the U.S. government has
promised to pay backmoney that didnt even exist in the first place.
It works like this with private bank loans to citizens as well. Each time
a transaction of this sort happens, it reduces the value of actual currency,
and thus we have inflation. One dollar in 1913 required $21.60 in 2007 to
match its value. Thats a 96% devaluation since the Federal Reserve came
into existence. How does this lead to economic slavery? By the debt inflation
has caused.
Debt:
Since money is created through loans, that means its created through debt.
Money equals debt, and debt equals money. So the more money there is, the
more debt there is, and vice versa. What this means is, if somehow the
government and every citizen in debt were able to pay back those loans, there
would not be a single dollar in circulation.
Interest plays an important role in this equation as well. When you take out
a loan and the bank gives you money that technically doesnt exist, they
also expect you to pay additional interest with it. If the money loaned is
coming from the Federal Reserve, where is the money for the interest supposed
to come from?
The answer is nowhere.
That means no matter what, the nation will never be able to get out of debt,
and that is exactly the purpose of this meticulously orchestrated system.
Like a toss of the coin, somebody somewhere will always go bankrupt to make
up for the interest that is being paid with even more debt. And so, as the
nation sinks further in the hole while the cost of living increases, surviving
in the economy becomes more difficult. This desperation to survive, coupled
with the fact that we were born into this system, is ultimately what causes
us to accept the 40-hour workweek without a moments thought.
So now we understand the element that forces us to accept our predicament,
but how does the 40-hour workweek benefit banks and corporations? After all,

studies show that the average office worker gets less than three hours worth
of work done in an 8-hour work shift, and according to reports, US corporate
profits are soaring while wages are declining. Bureau of Labor Statistics
figures show that productivity has increased at a 2.3 percent annual rate
in the third quarter, while hourly pay only increased 1.3 percent in the third
quarter, and this has been the basic pattern for some timeit adds up after
a while. Corporate profits are at their highest level in at least 85 years,
so why arent we being paid more, working less, and providing additional
jobs to those who need them? This brings us to consumerism.
Consumerism:
Consumerism is defined by the Merriam-Webster dictionary as: the belief that
it is good for people to spend a lot of money on goods and services. At one
point in time this belief may have rang true, but with the current capitalist
system and cost of living, consumerism has begun to have negative effects
on our society, especially when you take inflation and the increasing debt
into consideration. The more we buy, the more we feed the corporations and
banks who are in turn pushing us into economic slavery.
Since the 1800s and the Industrial Revolution, consumers have been
spending increasing amounts of money on frivolous purchases. This
over-indulgence has been nurtured and fed by the corporations using
commercialism (the attitude or actions of people who are influenced too
strongly by the desire to earn money or buy goods rather than by other
valuesMerriam-Webster) as a tool. Psychological insinuations have been
planted into societys subconscious for generations through consumer
advertisements which have ultimately led to certain habits and beliefs. Some
examples are:
Buy now pay later The General Motors Acceptance Corporation (GMAC)
started this mindset when it was established in 1919 and began to promote
giving loans to people who bought cars. Americans eventually started to use
the new credit plans on just about everything.
Keeping up with the Joneses Commonly thought to be the beginning of
the American consumer culture, this mindset began when GM introduced the
yearly automobile model change. People wanted to have the latest model each
year, and soon this idea spread out. Most of us, whether we want to admit
it or not, are familiar with this mentality. Rather than keeping our old
toaster that works perfectly fine, we want the new retro-style stainless

steel model because it looks swanky sitting on our kitchen counter.

1929-1945 Depression and War Soon after The Depression came WWII,
during which advertisers promised products to be available when there was
peace. As a result, customers (consumers) were eager to take up spending
immediately after the war was over.
Peace When the war ended, consumer optimism and economic growth
accompanied victory.
Charge it! Credit cards were first promoted through the Diners Cluba
charge card company that services affluent and well-travelled individuals
from around the world. Other companies followed suit and started advertising
credit cards as a time-saving device rather than a way to spend money
that wasnt actually there.
Bigger is better During the 1970s, companies began to send credit
cards out by the masses to those who had not requested them. While Americans
had already been developing the idea that bigger is better, the credit
card boom ended up exploiting that idea. Now people had the means to obtain
extravagant items they couldnt before, even though it put many in colossal
debt. Congress soon had to regulate the credit card boom, and ban sending
cards to those who never requested them in the first place.
Companies in all kinds of industries hold a huge stake in the publics
penchant to be careless with their money, and they encourage this habit of
casual or non-essential spending when they can. For example, in the
documentary The Corporation, a marketing psychologist discussed a method she
used to increase sales that involved encouraging children to nag their
parents to buy toys. Studies showed that 20% to 40% of purchases of this sort
resulted after children nagged their parents.
You can manipulate consumers into wanting, and therefore buying, your
products. Its a game. Lucy Hughes, co-creator of The Nag Factor.
The 40-hour workweek is the ultimate tool for corporations to sustain this
culture of over-indulgent spending. Under our current working conditions,
people are forced to build a life in the evenings and their days-off. We find
ourselves more inclined to spend heavily on entertainment and conveniences
because we rarely have any free time. When we do have time to ourselves, its
usually fleeting, and we eventually find ourselves neglecting those

activities which are freewalking, exercising, reading, meditating, sports,

hobbies, etc.because they take too much time.
While having extra money comes at the sacrifice of personal time for some,
for others they not only are robbed of their personal freedom, but they
struggle to make ends meet on top of it. The perfect consumer works
full-time, earns a fair amount of money, indulges during their free time,
and somehow just makes it by each month. However, even those who dont earn
fair wages sometimes find themselves wasting small increments of money on
unnecessary items for the wrong reasonsa cup of Starbucks here, a
McDonalds cheeseburger there, and those really cool fuzzy dice hanging from
the rear-view of your 1993 Honda Civic.
Any way you look at it, we have become an unhappy, mindless, over-worked
society. We buy silly items for a few moments of happiness before getting
bored and moving on. We feel a need to keep up with fads, or to fulfill our
childhood vision of what adulthood would be like. We hide our insecurities,
avoid issues, and replace psychological needs with material items. By keeping
societys free time scarce, people will pay more for convenience,
gratification, and any other relief they can buy.
Keeping America unhealthy has become extremely profitable for big-business,
and so far their efforts have paid-off beautifully. Our society has been
transformed into an industry fueled by economic slavery, and consumerism is
a key factor in this corrupt systemone the people have direct influence
over. Consumers are the only ones who can stop consuming.
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