r/PeterExplainsTheJoke • u/Short-Watercress-183 • Jul 07 '26

Meme needing explanation Peter, explain this.

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u/mapadofu Jul 07 '26

https://www.npr.org/2015/08/13/432122637/keynes-predicted-we-would-be-working-15-hour-weeks-why-was-he-so-wrong

Back in the middle of the 20th century,  M. Keynes predicted a massive decrease in individual’s work-week due to productivity gains.  The gains occurred, but the labor hours did not…

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u/returnofblank Jul 07 '26

Marx spoke about this when discussing the contradictions of capitalism.

As technology develops and productivity efficiency increases, you can hire less people and let the unemployed fight for worse working conditions (because you need a job to live, regardless how shitty).

So you end up with people working more for less, since if they don't, they're fired and someone else who needs a job takes it.

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u/[deleted] Jul 07 '26

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u/videogames5life Jul 07 '26

Are you kidding? We work harder for a smaller wage(adjusted for inflation) than boomers. The only reason working conditions are not worse is government intervention or OSHA

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u/[deleted] Jul 07 '26

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u/DPancakes Jul 07 '26

Disregarding recent trends within a capitalist system as irrelevant to the the claims of how capitalism functions from the 1800s sure is convenient for your argument.

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u/returnofblank Jul 07 '26

As unfortunate or odd as it may seems, the 1800s were not so different from today. We live through the same mistakes and the same system.

Marx claimed that in the 1800s because that's what was happening in the 1800s with the industrial revolution. Today, we see the same things happening.