I’ve had some thoughts on how our civilization should already be having 3-day weekends at the least, in perpetuity. Usually these thoughts are output from a brain lubricated by adult beverages, and are spouted to others likely lubed, who assure me that I make complete sense. Sober reflection on these ideas has not been easy, putting them in some kind of logical order nearly impossible. A stream of consciousness is my best option, as usual…

I often wonder why, as time has slugged along, with all the labor saving technology and increased division of labor, we went from single income households to dual, rather than to the lone-breadwinner-of-yore’s having to work less hours while maintaining his/her/their/its standard of living? How do we convert our technological advances into the laid back, gold backed, paradise of a Galt’s Gulch, sans the holographic projection head in the sand BS?

Given, we have better standards of living and more stuff now than “back in the day” – cell phones, video games, computers, jet skis, etc. – and most everything is now generally safer and better and thus more expensive relatively. Is that solely what’s taking up my extra money, money that could be converted to leisure time? Of course not.

There’s insurance, that oft mandated fave of crony capitalists, to use as a tool to transfer wealth to the unproductive. We all know the obvious fixes for that mess.

There are the insane levels of gubmint spending, most of which go to unnecessary bureaucracy. It’d probably be cheaper just to put all those leeches on welfare rather than making shit up for them to do. Or just eliminate the jobs. Either way, if I had only to pay 10% in income taxes rather than 30%, I’d be freed from 2.7 months of slave labor each year! That should at least allow me to work 4 days per week as opposed to 5. 3 day weekends achieved!!!

And I imagine the end of scarcity economics, especially with the upcoming mining of asteroids. As the prices of things decrease, will we just consume more, buy even more stuff to utilize our disposable income? Will gubmint reg’s increase and the cost of things go right back up with them? Will the gubmint tax/enslave us more, knowing the productive can afford it when the prices of goods are falling? Will we keep the productive peeps working the status quo 40+ hours a week while the headcount of welfare recipients rises as less and less labor is needed to keep civilization running?

Most likely, the answer would be a combination of all, as the various ambitious incompetents hustle to jack their pie.

In this context, I could see a Universal Basic Income as an interim step to spreading out the leisure that should come from the end of scarcity economics and from ever increasing productivity, until the prices of life deflate and a new economy is normalized. This however, assumes our society would recognize that a new economic situation was evolving into existence; and that *leisure time, rather than wealth, should be distributed.*
(Not to say that anything *should* be distributed, as in forced, but getting from hither to thither, from our current situation to Libertarian paradise, naturally wouldn’t happen instantaneously.)

As I see it now, my increased productivity – due to whatever factors – doesn’t result in my having to work less hours. The nonproductive, via gubmint sanctioned/administered theft, are taking it and converting it into leisure time for themselves. I want it back!!!