Who holds the MONOPOLY on TIME?
Aye you can be sure someone does!
I was in 8th grade AP English class when it first occurred to me that there was some nebulous force out there in the world working to ensure that us people have as little free time as possible. Why? What is it "they" do not want us to be doing? And why don't they want us doing it?
I started with some basic math:
1. Go to School
2. Get married
3. Have kids
Then:
4. Work 8+ Hours/Day in order to earn:
Sleep 8 Hours/Day, leaving only 8 hours for traffic, eating, shopping, cleaning, friends, family, entertainment, telephone, home improvement, study, etc.
5. Work 5 Days/Week in order to earn:
2 Days/Week for Laundry, Family, Shopping, etc. Sunday used
to be reserved for Church (or Watching Sports).
6. Work 50 Weeks/Year in order to earn:
2 Weeks Vacation.
7. Work 50 Years/Your Life in order to earn:
20 Years Retirement, at the end, during the hardest years of
your life.
(These numbers are rather old and do not take into consideration: Holidays, Medical Issues, Other Celebrations, Taxes, Voting, Court for tickets or Jury Duty, and a million other things that make up "Life" for most people)
Still, it should be obvious to anyone that our entire lives are already Scheduled for us by the time we are born. This really bothered me. If the numbers were more equitable, something like "Work 50% to Enjoy 50%" that would seem somewhat fair to me (except that so much of our "Free Time" is spent simply in upkeep, like shopping and laundry, and thus is NOT "Free Time" at all.
And the big question was and is "WHY?" What is it this "they" don't want us to do, that they feel the need to keep us so preoccupied? What do they think we would do to "them" if we had the time and the resources?
I could not figure it out then, and honestly I am still working on it, though the metaphor of a young child comes to mind. Parents like to keep their young kids occupied for several basic reasons:
1. Keeps the child from doing damage or making a mess
2. Give the parents time to enjoy their own time
3. Create in the child a work-ethic which will stay all of their life.
I do not see how this Hypothesis is flawed in any way and I think even the simplest of adults can understand the Math presented here. When we include all the "upkeep" activities of our "Free Time" the final Equation is something like:
Work 93%, Free Time 7%.
My next post about modern Education may have some clues about this phenomena.
I was in 8th grade AP English class when it first occurred to me that there was some nebulous force out there in the world working to ensure that us people have as little free time as possible. Why? What is it "they" do not want us to be doing? And why don't they want us doing it?
I started with some basic math:
1. Go to School
2. Get married
3. Have kids
Then:
4. Work 8+ Hours/Day in order to earn:
Sleep 8 Hours/Day, leaving only 8 hours for traffic, eating, shopping, cleaning, friends, family, entertainment, telephone, home improvement, study, etc.
5. Work 5 Days/Week in order to earn:
2 Days/Week for Laundry, Family, Shopping, etc. Sunday used
to be reserved for Church (or Watching Sports).
6. Work 50 Weeks/Year in order to earn:
2 Weeks Vacation.
7. Work 50 Years/Your Life in order to earn:
20 Years Retirement, at the end, during the hardest years of
your life.
(These numbers are rather old and do not take into consideration: Holidays, Medical Issues, Other Celebrations, Taxes, Voting, Court for tickets or Jury Duty, and a million other things that make up "Life" for most people)
Still, it should be obvious to anyone that our entire lives are already Scheduled for us by the time we are born. This really bothered me. If the numbers were more equitable, something like "Work 50% to Enjoy 50%" that would seem somewhat fair to me (except that so much of our "Free Time" is spent simply in upkeep, like shopping and laundry, and thus is NOT "Free Time" at all.
And the big question was and is "WHY?" What is it this "they" don't want us to do, that they feel the need to keep us so preoccupied? What do they think we would do to "them" if we had the time and the resources?
I could not figure it out then, and honestly I am still working on it, though the metaphor of a young child comes to mind. Parents like to keep their young kids occupied for several basic reasons:
1. Keeps the child from doing damage or making a mess
2. Give the parents time to enjoy their own time
3. Create in the child a work-ethic which will stay all of their life.
I do not see how this Hypothesis is flawed in any way and I think even the simplest of adults can understand the Math presented here. When we include all the "upkeep" activities of our "Free Time" the final Equation is something like:
Work 93%, Free Time 7%.
My next post about modern Education may have some clues about this phenomena.
Comments
Post a Comment
Aye, I dare ya!