Average labour hours in a year dramatically increased with the Industrial Revolution.
They would only decrease much later, after a long period of social conflict, economic growth, and technological progress.
During the early phase of the Industrial Revolution (roughly 1760–1850):
Agricultural workers who once labored seasonally were pushed into factory schedules of 12–16 hours per day, 6 days per week.
Annual labor hours often exceeded 3,000 hours per year per worker.
This was not because work became harder physically, but because capital-intensive machinery became expensive and had to run continuously to be profitable.
Time discipline replaced task-based work. Before industrialization, a farmer might stop when tasks were done; factory workers had fixed shifts.
The labour struggle for rights we see as basic today (40h work weeks, free weekends) was bloody and deadly.
And this was without surveillance tech and automated police drones or w/e else Palantir is working on right now. If we're going by historical precedent this transition won't be pretty, even if you're hoping for a nice optimistic end result.
I'm not so sure having a beefy 401k and maybe a couple of rental properties will be enough to insulate some of the more comfortable HN posters from all the potential chaos.
I am pretty sure we are running towards a big 1929 style system correction. I may be wrong, but that people doesn't even try to contemplate this possibility seems bonkers too me. And in that case, those 401k are not going to be worth much, viz. the price of butter, and neither you can count on rental properties as a income source when everywhere became Flint, OH.
They would only decrease much later, after a long period of social conflict, economic growth, and technological progress.
During the early phase of the Industrial Revolution (roughly 1760–1850):
Agricultural workers who once labored seasonally were pushed into factory schedules of 12–16 hours per day, 6 days per week.
Annual labor hours often exceeded 3,000 hours per year per worker.
This was not because work became harder physically, but because capital-intensive machinery became expensive and had to run continuously to be profitable.
Time discipline replaced task-based work. Before industrialization, a farmer might stop when tasks were done; factory workers had fixed shifts.
This trend persisted into the late 19th century.