General Discussion
Related: Editorials & Other Articles, Issue Forums, Alliance Forums, Region ForumsAmerica Has Forgotten That We Don't Have Freedom If We Don't Have Free Time
http://www.alternet.org/economy/america-has-forgotten-we-dont-have-freedom-if-we-dont-have-free-timeWhat exactly is human progress? If progress is the growth of opportunities, then we should welcome developments that give us more options in how we spend our time and structure our lives. But when we get trapped in the mindset of eternal scarcity and laboring until our last breath, we stop imagining that there could be any path in front of us except more and more work.
A recent report on Obamacare by the CBO found that the law will nudge workers to work less. Why? Because if you dont have to take a full-time job just to get coverage, then maybe you wont. Conservatives are interpreting the report to mean that Obamacare is a job killer. But theyre deliberately missing the fact that the work reduction in this case is voluntary.
The estimated reduction stems almost entirely from a net decline in the amount of labor that workers choose to supply, says the report.
Assuming the CBO is correct about this voluntary reduction, whats so bad about it? Why would anyone be up in arms about the idea of a person choosing, of her own free will, to work less?
democratisphere
(17,235 posts)as hard as we did previously for half of what they previously made. The 'idea' of VOLUNTARY work reduction is total bullshit.
el_bryanto
(11,804 posts)While I totally agree that many people including you it sounds like are working way to hard, I think the article is about how the ACA is allowing some people who are working a second job to either be covered by a healthcare plan or to afford healthcare to drop their second job. In which case they are working less.
In general I think the 40 hour work week is too long; and many of us are working considerably more than that.
Bryant
democratisphere
(17,235 posts)than having anything else, including a second job necessary for plain old survival, the unaffordable Affordable Healthcare Act has failed IMO. It not only is a 'job killer', it's a quality of life killer.
el_bryanto
(11,804 posts)It allows them to stop working a second job they are already working.
Previously, before the ACA was implemented, some people had to work a second job either 1) to pay for healthcare or 2) because the second job had health benefits. Now, with ACA implemented, some of those people are able to quit that second job, and thus work only one job. That's a quality of life improvement.
Or that's what the CBO concluded and what this article argues.
Bryant
libtodeath
(2,888 posts)It is not perfect and until we get to single payer there will be glitches but to say it is a quality of life killer is just false.
Romulox
(25,960 posts)Plus, Obamacare coverage still requires that the premiums be paid every month. How are people supposed to do that without jobs?