From darkness into light - a dream

I had a dream last night. I was in a large church, something like one of the large European cathedrals except unimaginably immense. I was there with my mother and sisters – for what I’m not sure. The ground began to tremble and the building shifted. I looked at my mother; she was forcing herself to be unaware as she knelt in some sort of imposed and false bliss. I said something like “we need to leave.” My mother ignored me and my younger sister turned on me like someone gone mad, “We can’t leave! We need a church. You can’t have a church without a building!” I turned and began walking to the main entrance of the cathedral. Just as I reached the precipice the building began to shake violently; a rift opened in the earth and I could see that the church was separating from the ground in front of the entrance. I glimpsed my sisters and said “You don’t need a building. You don’t need a church. This is all the church you need.” I pointed towards an open field with families playing in the grass. My older sister looked relieved but my younger sister just had a twisted and confused look on her face – she was uncertain. She knew I was right, but it was an unacceptable risk. The building began tilting as it teetered on some flimsy rock. I dove from the entrance way of the church onto the grass just as the church crashed into an abyss. I moved from darkness into light.

32 hour work week

Ok, this is not a new concept but I've got to say that the 40 hour work week is crap! Whoever thought this one up was just plain stupid - or were they? This morning I did some calculating while driving into work and this is what I ran across:

One 7-day Week: 168 hours
2-day weekend: 48 hours
Remaining time in week: 120 hours
Standard American Work Week: 40 hours
Remaining time in week: 80 hours
Average 8 hours of sleep per night (for 5 nights): 40 hours
Remaining time in week: 40 hours
Average 2-way daily commute is 2 hours (for 5 days): 10 hours
Remaining time in week: 30 hours

That's it! 30 measley hours of family time, shopping time, paying bills time, reading, and excercise time during the week! No wonder divorce rates are astonomical. No wonder the disconnect between parents and children widens with each generation. And don't even begin to give me the old line about "well, you have your weekends." Rubbish! After sleeping that leaves only 32 hours during the weekend and more often than not this time is used doing some sort of work along with trying to be a good family member and friend.

My point is that the Standard 40-hour work week leaves no time for health and happiness. You either make the corporation your family or you wither away. You burn out and are denied social opportunities because of economic conditions. It is a double-edged sword and I can't help but to think that it was somehow master-minded by some calculating and greedy bastard - "let's see, what is the most we can get out of the peson for the longest period of time before they break".

I propose a 4-day, 32 hour work week. This allows 10 additional hours during the week for excercise, rest, family time, and/or leisure. In addition, this allows for more people to be hired. It's a win-win. Better rested, healthier, more stable employees make for better production and a better society.

From Wikipedia Article:
"Alternately, a workweek that is too long will result in stress-related health problems, on the large scale, as well as a drought of leisure. Furthermore, children are likely to receive less attention from overworked parents, and childrearing is likely to be subjectively worse. The exact ways in which excessive workweeks affect culture, public health, and education are debated, but the existence of such a danger is undisputed.
Furthermore, if demand for labor remains constant, increasing working time for employed workers will correspondingly reduce the number of workers. Firms will lay off employees, and unemployment results. This is profitable for companies and for the upper classes, but a losing situation for all within the labor force: Employed individuals are worked more hours than they wish (if salaried, for constant pay) while individuals who would like work cannot find it."

Mr. Bush's Healthcare "Plan"

Like many Americans, each year I look forward to the annual State of the Union address. There is a coziness and comfort I find in the State of the Union that is paralleled only by Christmas Eve. Even as a child I enjoyed the pomp of seeing our leaders gathered together in one chamber - somehow it harkens back to the days of our founders; somehow it makes the talking-head politicians seem real. Yep, I 'm truly fond of this once-a-year winter chat. Wrapped in a warm blanket and donning my pajamas, I curl up on the couch and watch our elected leaders explain with seriousness why the United States of America is still a group of ragtag explorers endeavoring to do the impossible - govern themselves as equals, yet individuals. Indeed, during the State of the Union we Americans feel unrivaled in our oneness, even when our President is some rich guy named "George" - a guy that has never been held accountable for anything in his life. Even 'ol fumbling, sneaky George comes off as something special during the State of the Union.

But no matter how much nostalgia I may feel, no matter how many honest to goodness everyday heroes are lauded, I cannot acquiesce; I can't just stand by and let our President get away with hawking that piece of crap corporate give-away he called Healthcare reform - not even the sense of awe I had while watching Nancy Pelosi make history can make me turn the other cheek after being slapped in the face by the poo George was throwing (congratulations, Madame Speaker!). There is no way taking away tax incentives for corporations to provide insurance for their employees is going to help the average American! Under the proposed plan not only will this tax incentive be removed, but the average American will pay a penalty in tax for having purchased a comprehensive healthcare plan. However, should this average American choose a less comprehensive and **cough** cheaper plan, they would receive a tax credit worth a fraction of the costs.

My Point: According to the Federal Reserve, Americans carry on average, $5,800 + in credit card debt from month to month while the average household earnings is $46,326 per year (that's roughly $2,895 per month after tax). Do the math - it doesn't present a comfortable economic picture. Add to this bleak monthly budget a large mortgage for a devalued home, new car payments, private schools, etc... And one can hardly place faith in Joe Middle Class to divert his windfall of fluid cash into private insurance when his employer no longer offers the benefit at a reduced pre-tax rate. Even more exasperating is the fact that the President's modest tax incentives to buy mediocre private insurance in no way helps impoverished Americans who need every penny earned monthly just to survive. How will tax breaks for those that can currently afford cheap insurance going to put, as the President was so fond of saying about his tax refunds, "a little cash in the pockets" of the poor?

No, the plan is more than flawed - it is another corporate give-away. The only winners are ... (cue dramatic music) ... large employers that will shy away from a totally non-reimbursed benefit and (gasp!) insurance companies, be they large, small, or shady. INSURANCE! God, the whole business was born from and continues to feed off of humanity's decay! As traditional safety nets such as extended families and villages disintegrate, the more fertile the business environment is for insurance companies. Now there's an idea - let's give incentives to companies that encourage working from home, or, better yet, provide tax incentives for both providing healthcare and allowing employees more time with their families. Maybe over time villages would reappear along with extended family households and, I dare say, personal savings. Maybe, if government would truly stand up for the ragtag individuals instead of Big Money in the form of Big Corporations we wouldn't need insurance. But this tangent begs to be followed some other day.