As we all know, since the advent of smartphones, the boundaries between work and life have become more and more blurred. Whether it is those work groups, customer groups, or various remote meetings, DingTalk and other software, we are kept online at any time, making it miserable for workers. Isn't there anyone who cares about this? There really is, this year's two sessions put forward a plan of "offline rest", which can make countless migrant workers happy.
However, when we calm down and think about it, this "offline rest right" is just to get us some overtime pay, and it is impossible to really reduce our working hours. To understand the root causes of this problem, we have to stretch the timeline to look at the entire history of human development.
As early as the primitive society, human beings relied on hunting and gathering to obtain enough food, and life was quite easy and comfortable. Later, in the nomadic era, it became more efficient, but the increase in population led to longer working hours. Later, they learned to farm the land and grow grain, which became more efficient, and as a result, the population skyrocketed, and the amount of labor increased. During the Industrial Revolution, production efficiency increased dramatically, but workers worked longer.
The historian Yuval Harari and the economist Malthus have both analysed this problem, arguing that the fruits of technological progress are often consumed by population growth and the desire to consume, resulting in an increase in rest time that has resulted in us becoming more and more productive, but not having to take breaks.
Yuval Harari, in his book A Brief History of Mankind, mentioned that the most relaxed and leisurely life actually belonged to the primitive era. At that time, the gifts of nature allowed them to get enough food without much labor. Later, humans began to raise their own animals, which increased productivity and increased working hours, as the population grew rapidly.
Later, human beings learned to grow food, and productivity reached a higher level, but the result was also a population blowout, and labor hours did not decrease. According to Harari's analysis, this is because human beings have two basic desires: one is the desire to consume and the other is the desire to reproduce. The increase in productivity brought about by technological progress often first satisfies the needs of population growth, and only when population growth slows down is that the desire for consumption is released. In other words, the increase in productivity is always consumed first by population growth, and it is only when population growth slows down that we can enjoy more leisure time.
Malthus made a similar point in his Treatise on Population. He believes that the development of human society, whether it is the agricultural revolution or the industrial revolution, cannot escape such a law in the end: the increase of productivity is always first swallowed up by population growth. It's only when productivity grows faster than population growth that we can really get more leisure time.
Speaking of which, we may feel a little disappointed and helpless. After all, why can't human beings restrain their desires? But we must not give up hope.
In fact, if we can adjust our consumption level and fertility concept, and the dividends brought by technological progress, we are still expected to have more leisure time. There are such success stories in history.
European countries, for example, have seen a slowdown in population growth since the late 19th and early 20th centuries, while their standard of living has continued to rise. This allows the fruits of productivity growth to translate into more rest time. As we can see, the Nordic countries have always been known for their short working hours and many holidays, and this is due to this.
Another example is China, since the reform and opening up, people's living standards have improved significantly, but the fertility rate has also dropped significantly. This allows the mainland to create more free time for workers while developing at a high rate of economy. Although we are not yet at the level of the Nordic countries, we have made great progress.
We should see that technological progress does not necessarily lead to more leisure time in the short term. But as long as we can reasonably control our own desires, I believe that one day, we will be able to truly enjoy the fruits of scientific and technological development and live a more relaxed and comfortable life. It will take the joint efforts of each and every one of us, but I am confident that it will be achieved.