ever? Totally used to. Social movements fought for the 40h work week in the 19th and early 20th century in many countries. Then the post-WW2 era was defined by Keynesian economics, and economic growth in Western economies actually translated into higher wages.

Then came neoliberalism, peddled by fraud economists like Hayek and Friedman, enacted by politicians like Raegan and Thatcher. Unions were weakened, and the rich were free to appropriate all the productivity gains and growth.

I recommend reading "The Hidden Doctrine", short and easy book.

It's generally true that technology improving actually increased work load for the working classes. Major concessions for leisure time came from active organization and resistance, as concessions to prevent revolt (especially when near the USSR, which was more advanced in social safety nets), or via imperialism, using the global south to subsidize the global north's living standards.

This is all true of capitalism, but of course technological development within socialism can and does serve the working classes. The advancement of technology is critical to reduce work load and increase living standards, and as such socialist society needs to place an immense amount of effort on the technological front.

Just to put credit back in here, without bringing more clicks to Twitter:

https://xcancel.com/orevazsn/status/2056666244300825043

Many good answers here, but one also has to factor in that not all labour is socially necessary. With rising surplus value and extraction thereof, there follows also a rising inequality leading directly to more people becoming more or less servants of the capitalist class.

I would argue that labour of this type, whether that be managing contradictions arising from the capitalist mode of production or the placating of rich people's whims and needs, is not socially necessary. At the very least the product of this effort ranges from insignificant to detrimental for the proletariat.

Well it has, indirectly. Plenty of times, it has given politics and unions a basis for demanding those improvements. Looking back over the last century or so, conditions have improved, drastically.

Gotta keep the people off of the streets.

It's actually the opposite. The more we can automate and the more we produce with the same time and effort input, the less we earn and the more we have to work. Which has been happening for a long time, and is why anyone thinking that AI would help anyone other than billionaires is a dummy.

It's almost like the lack of unions is causing workers to have worse conditions.

In recent times, for sure. But that's because the capitalist class have done a very good job of making people afraid to rock the boat like their ancestors did...

After all when you're one bad paycheck from starvation, or you're working two jobs just to make ends meet, your first priority is surviving.

And for those who aren't, there's a practically militarised police force to keep you down should you ever step out of line.

The decline in unions and collective bargaining has been a big part of this is my opinion. The anti-union propaganda was so effective that a couple generations killed it off before the younger ones could see it in action.

Just to put credit back in here, without bringing more clicks to Twitter:

https://xcancel.com/orevazsn/status/2056666244300825043

Here's a weird trick I've learned: I just care a lot less than I used to and only do the bare minimum a lot of the time. If you're good at what you do, you can slack off quite a bit without drawing any attention to yourself most of the time. Obv only applicable in certain job roles / conditions, so I plan to stay at this job forever.

Generally speaking increased worker productivity has lead to increased working hours, people today work more hours, now must be available at all hours, are being coerced into skipping legally mandated lunch breaks, into jobs with significantly worse conditions (because they can get away with it), in exchange for significantly less pay when you take into account the cost of living (yes inflation is technically stable but that doesn't matter for the average person, cost of living does).

It's pathetic that there hasn't been a raise in the minimum wage in like 50 years. The epstein class is completely opposed. Forget about 4 day work week. Never even mentioned. Politicians would rather serve capital than win.

Hey now, what's a bigger reduction in labor hours than unemployment?

Ultimately the machine wants to preserve itself and strengthen. It does this by any means. Democracies stabilize the machine in that they prevents people from becoming bothersome. All people can voice their opinions, but ultimately everybody has to be in favour of the machine in fern to be taken seriously. If the people abandon the democracy, the machine will become less stable, and have to use more coercive means to maintain itself.

Strength is all under the machine.

nothing to discuss. this is how capitalism was designed to work. real benefits to the working class come, sadly, from fights and often involve blood.

This is what comes to mind to me every time "the demographic problem" of aging population comes up.

Lowering the number of humans in a natural way is a good thing and economy should evolve into supporting that, not the other way around.

But we depend on a system that relies on constant grow instead so a bunch of people can rape kids without repercussion...

It has a bit, but far far from what could have been possible (excluding the usa maybe).

Or increased pay.

Historically nothing changes until the pedophile class and corrupt politicians live in fear.

So Marx did at least have a point...

Chiming in to say this appears to be a quote from David Graeber's Bullshit Jobs.

"When goods increase, they increase [the number] who eat them..."

This is silly, off the top of my head:

Electric lighting, Air conditioning, refrigeration, vacuums, washers/dryers, modern toilets + sewage systems, grocery stores, GPS guided + Air-conditioned combine harvesters.

This very moment I have my Instapot cooking, the dishwasher washing, the washer washing, the dryer drying, as I lie in bed (which I bought instead of made) cooled by a fan. I just took a drink from a water bottle I didnt have to whittle by hand. Life is, in this beautiful instant, pretty good.

I don't know. Some people I know are spending a lot of time on gaming and social media instead of doing shit in the real world. I don't know if more free time would translate in anything else than more time on addictive behaviors.

It's a complicated subject, there are a lot of issues with the current state of technology that can be blamed on capitalism but we also need to start blaming our consuming habits at some point if we at least want to promote the use of products that serves us the way we want to be served.