Why a medieval peasant got more vacation time than you
blogs.reuters.com
Why a medieval peasant got more vacation time than you
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Re: Why a medieval peasant got more vacation time than you
#2Should be tagged [opinion]. This is not a news piece.
Re: Why a medieval peasant got more vacation time than you
#3Should be tagged [opinion]. This is not a news piece.
The fact that our elected representatives have voted themselves so many perks, as well as raises, highlights the double standard which has become prevalent in the USA.
Exempt from the Obama care fiasco, retirement eligibility after a ridiculously short period of employment, an enviably short work "year."
It makes me wonder why I didn't go into politics...
Re: Why a medieval peasant got more vacation time than you
#4Statistics about how much time medieval peasants spent working can be misleading, because a lot of what they spent their time on when they weren't doing fieldwork was still work, e.g. tending their own gardens, making implements and furniture, working on their houses. They had to make most of the things they used themselves. So when "work" was over they didn't go home and watch TV.
It's hard to be sure exactly what life was like for preindustrial agricultural workers, but the most convincing evidence that it was very hard was that early mines and factories were easily able to recruit all the workers they needed, despite working conditions we know to have been harsh.
Re: Why a medieval peasant got more vacation time than you
#5Statistics about how much time medieval peasants spent working can be misleading, because a lot of what they spent their time on when they weren't doing fieldwork was still work, e.g. tending their own gardens, making implements and furniture, working on their houses. They had to make most of the things they used themselves. So when "work" was over they didn't go home and watch TV. It's hard to be sure exactly what l…
>the most convincing evidence that it was very hard was that early mines and factories were easily able to recruit all the workers they needed, despite working conditions we know to have been harsh.
I don't find that evidence convincing for two reasons:
1. Many peasant farmers relied on a commons for food production which was being legislatively destroyed at that time ( See https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Enclosure ). Factories got peasants who were being pushed off their land due to industrialization. Those peasants might not have opted to be factory workers if they had been able to live a traditional peasant life. Note that this same process was repeated when Mexico grew it's industrial base in the 1990's under NAFTA using Article 27 to destroy common land to create cheap factory labor( see https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/North_American_Free_Trade_Agre... ).
2. People going to work in factories may not have be aware of how terrible the conditions were and once they found out they may not have been able to reverse the situation (starvation wages don't make for many options). In much the same way that sex-traffickers promise one job (working as a cleaner) and then once the person is under their power the traffickers force them to work as prostitutes.
Re: Why a medieval peasant got more vacation time than you
#6Statistics about how much time medieval peasants spent working can be misleading, because a lot of what they spent their time on when they weren't doing fieldwork was still work, e.g. tending their own gardens, making implements and furniture, working on their houses. They had to make most of the things they used themselves. So when "work" was over they didn't go home and watch TV. It's hard to be sure exactly what l…
That evidence would be convincing if peasants were enticed from working in the traditional arrangements by the lure of working in a factory; but as I understand it the situation was more complicated. Industrialization proceeded alongside the active dismantling of the feudal property system and the enclosure of formerly common land. A former peasant who became a factory worker may have gone through the intermediate step of being evicted from their land and becoming a vagrant.
Edit: wrote this comment before seeing the other reply, which makes almost exactly the same point
Re: Why a medieval peasant got more vacation time than you
#7Should be tagged [opinion]. This is not a news piece.
The fact that our elected representatives have voted themselves so many perks, as well as raises, highlights the double standard which has become prevalent in the USA. Exempt from the Obama care fiasco, retirement eligibility after a ridiculously short period of employment, an enviably short work "year." It makes me wonder why I didn't go into politics...
Lawmakers already had health insurance so the Affordable Care Act didn't really affect them in any substantial way.
In general the ACA won't have a huge immediate impact for those who already have health insurance.
Re: Why a medieval peasant got more vacation time than you
#8This is simply a result of the balance of power shifting ever further towards employers over the past few decades. What incentives does a short-term value maximizing employer have to give his employees paid vacation?
In addition, a perfect storm of automation, globalization and erosion of worker rights has severely reduced the bargaining position of employees worldwide.
Furthermore, by keeping the majority of the population fully occupied at all times, participation in the democratic process becomes an incredible burden. Thus, the political arena becomes a playground for those who can afford the luxury of free time.
It doesn't take a genius to see whom these factors benefit.
Re: Why a medieval peasant got more vacation time than you
#9Should be tagged [opinion]. This is not a news piece.
The fact that our elected representatives have voted themselves so many perks, as well as raises, highlights the double standard which has become prevalent in the USA. Exempt from the Obama care fiasco, retirement eligibility after a ridiculously short period of employment, an enviably short work "year." It makes me wonder why I didn't go into politics...
the true one percent are the politicians.
In regards to the time and life of medieval peasants and the like, I think I will take my work week over theirs.
Re: Why a medieval peasant got more vacation time than you
#10Statistics about how much time medieval peasants spent working can be misleading, because a lot of what they spent their time on when they weren't doing fieldwork was still work, e.g. tending their own gardens, making implements and furniture, working on their houses. They had to make most of the things they used themselves. So when "work" was over they didn't go home and watch TV. It's hard to be sure exactly what l…
Not to mention the fact that peasants typically worked from dawn to dusk.