We shouldn’t have to work this much

Today’s edition of Wishful Working is a 4 minute read.

Soon after I became a freelancer, I discovered this essay by English economist John Maynard Keynes. He published this essay in 1930, almost 100 years ago. The title is Economic Possibilities for Our Grandchildren, and it’s worth a read. But I’ll give you the TL;DR. Here are some possibilities Keynes imagined:

• A future where technological advancements and increased productivity would enable a significant reduction in necessary working hours.

• Specifically, a 15-hour work week.

• A collective overcoming of material scarcity, allowing people to focus on leisure time and pursuits outside of working to survive.

• A collective shift away from obsessive wealth accumulation as basic needs became easier to meet.

• An assumption that someday, our primary problem might not be how to keep grinding and staying afloat economically, but how to keep ourselves busy in the “age of leisure and of abundance.”

• A future where we collectively recognize obsessive wealth accumulation as disgusting and unhealthy.

• The idea that once wealth is abundant enough, we’ll build a more just and fulfilling society.

Keynes predicted these realities would come to pass within a hundred years. For those keeping track at home, that’s 2030.

Reading his predictions, it comes across as utopian, even absurd. But while it is optimistic, I don’t think his predictions were that outrageous. In fact, I think we could have gotten close to his utopian vision if it weren’t for a few infuriating factors. Here’s what Keynes underestimated:

Capitalism’s growth imperative

Under capitalism, there is no “slowing down” once society reaches a certain level of abundance. The system requires constant expansion and profit maximization. Society has achieved astounding productivity gains, just as Keynes predicted, but instead of reducing work hours and enjoying simple, comfortable lives, society entered an endless cycle of expansion, competition, and wealth accumulation for a select few.

The cost of living and consumerism

Keynes mistakenly assumed that once people’s basic needs were met, society would reach an “enough” stage, where our interests turned away from material accumulation and toward leisure, hobbies, art, and other pursuits. First of all, there is no “enough” when the cost of living has risen precipitously and wages lag far behind. Second, there is no “enough” when consumerism is deeply embedded in our cultural DNA and advertising, media, and social pressure keep us striving for more, more, more.

Inequality and the astonishing greed of the wealthy

This might be the single biggest reason we haven’t achieved even a fraction of Keynes’s vision for the future of work. Instead of “ever larger and larger classes and groups of people from whom problems of economic necessity have been practically removed,” we have ever fewer and fewer. Billionaire wealth grew by $2 trillion in 2024 alone. TWO TRILLION DOLLARS. Oxfam predicts there will be at least five trillionaires a decade from now.

Setting aside dreams of leisure and abundance, imagine that wealth being used to eliminate worldwide hunger and poverty. Workers in low- and middle-income countries receive only 21% of global income despite contributing 90% of the labor that drives the global economy. (Read this entire press release from Oxfam, it’s wild.)

If it’s not obvious: I’m angry. I’m angry because I can’t stop thinking about the way the world could be, and the reasons it isn’t that way.

See you next week,

Kara

Kara Detwiller is a writer based in small-town Saskatchewan. She specializes in long-form content writing for enterprise SaaS, cybersecurity, and manufacturing clients. She is also working on her first novel, among other creative pursuits. To connect, reply to this email or find Kara on LinkedIn or Bluesky. To support her work on Wishful Working, share this email with someone or buy her a “coffee.”

Why Wishful Working? I write this newsletter because I want to see more people enjoy a life not centered around work. For some, the path to freedom and flexibility is through self-employment, but we also need to challenge cultural norms and champion healthier working conditions and work/life balance for all types of workers.