For the upper class, the number of working hours has increased. For the lower class, it has decreased. Until very recently there were no unemployed who were willing to work, there was always need for more unskilled labor to dig ditches, plow farms, carry lumber, etc. That is no longer the case. The world only needs so many ditch diggers and farmhands now that we have ditch digging machines and tractors, and that same trend applies to almost every industry. More machines means we need less people to support the needs of more people. Today, I think unemployment is at least 10%, and climbing. Yes, we are in an economic slump, but the recovery won't be quite as good as before, and the next slump will be worse. Ignoring temporary fluctuations we are on a permanent and unstoppable trend towards higher unemployment, and pure capitalism in the face of that is asking for riots or worse (somewhere around the 50% mark, I would say).
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Date: 2009-01-21 05:20 pm (UTC)