Me

Some European countries have a 40 hour work week maximum (volunteered overtime is allowed).

The US is still living in the 1800s when it comes to labor rights so we don't have the freedom of a living wage for 40 hours of work.

Ants get shit done. Humans can barely function when you get more than 2 dozen of us together.

This didn't happen

You sparked my interest, so I did go read about it. I didn't find anything like what you explained though. Do you have any sources?

Weren't polynesians a bunch of warrior tribes that pretty much hunted some pacific birds down to extinction and when they got their hands on gunpowder weapons one tribe pretty much obliterated every other tribe?

all of the good work that was done on reddit

wtf buttnugget?

Men were able to work 40 hours back then because women were relegated to unpaid domestic labor and childcare.

When women entered the workforce, these expectations were slow to change. So now, everyone gets to work 40+ hours and a few dozen more at home. And that's the best case scenario where both partners shared the mental load. Bonus points if they have a kid which is a 24/7 job.

In a sane world, with double the people working you would expect their hours to be halved. But that will never happen so long as corporations continue to disguise the exploitation of workers as 'feminism'.

Plenty of countries where 35-40h/week, or even less, is the norm (and I mean it as no "not counted" extra hours)

Lol. I had these guys beat in terms of hours, and their job was nowhere near as physical as mine was.

Now I get to be a desk jockey, and it's fucking sweet. Gonna milk it, because I put my hours in.

TALLER

That's absolute bullshit. When the 40 hour workweek was "invented", men were working 12 hour days in factories and their wives also worked. The wives sometimes worked in factories, often worked as domestic servants for richer people, or did home-based work. Home based work was often laundry or cooking for other people, not just their family. They'd sometimes also finish goods that were produced in a factory. Both partners were working 12+ days. And, while women did most of the home cooking and cleaning, it wasn't as though that's all they did.

This system ended because the workers used their power and went on strike. The result was the Haymarket Affair and is the reason that most countries, other than the US, celebrate a worker's day on May 1st. The striking workers were attacked and beaten by the cops, and then because a bomb was thrown at a cop, the leaders of an anarchist group were rounded up and hanged after show trials.

Eventually the striking workers got what they were working for: an 8 hour day. But, it took decades after the Haymarket Affair for it to happen, and it wasn't something that happened because everyone agreed it made sense. It was a long and bloody fight where that was the compromise that reduced the bloodshed.

If you want a 20 hour work week, join a union, prepare to go on strike and prepare to be beaten by the cops.

Now it has a friend.

be glad you weren't born on a desolate island surrounded only by sharks and inhabited only by poisonous food

point is, don't compare yourself to the worst alternative. labor hours spiked around 1800-1900, but were significantly lower before and after that.

Or be sad you weren't born 10.000 years earlier with a 15 hour work week.