If you would add up all the labour that goes into the things you consume on an average day, how many hours do you consume a day?
Extra clarification: https://mishathings.com/2021-08-23-how-many-people-work-for-me.html
If you would add up all the labour that goes into the things you consume on an average day, how many hours do you consume a day?
Extra clarification: https://mishathings.com/2021-08-23-how-many-people-work-for-me.html
I’m going to invoke blissful ignorance on this one… cause it’s likely an amount I would be seriously uncomfortable with. It’s not necessarily a bad thing that people specialize though. I consume products that a lot of people put time into rather frivolously. But I also put a lot of time into my work, that end-users consumer rather frivolously as well. It’s a cycle and we all play our part in some aspect. Of course, ignoring all the issues with labor inequality.
No, specialization is fine. It’s just that, through the market, you lose track of how many people work for you.
Let’s say you own an estate and have a gardener, a butler and a maid, it’s clear. It’s visible. You know it, they know it, your neighbours know it. If you, through the market, effectively consume 3 fte of (international) labour, you’re practically living the same aristocrat life, without realizing it.
If this situation would be more visible, people might be more willing to vote for (internationally) redistributive politics?
Oh yea definitely. I think people would rather live in the ignorance is bliss category though. It’s also easy to get people to acknowledge these types of imbalances, but even harder to get them to act accordingly when doing so would result in less economic utility for that person - theoretically of course. Really interesting though, wouldn’t have thought about it like this had you not posted about it.