Archive for July, 2008

Why the Four-Day Work Week is Amazing

July 5, 2008 at 5:59 pm · Filed under Uncategorized ·Tagged , , , , ,

Utah Institutes Four-Day Work Week

Big news in Utah the other day. Not that I’m really big on following Utah news, but their governor issued an order last week that state employees will make the transition soon to a four-day work week. The experimental measure, which was primarily a response to rising gas prices, will last one year and affect about 17,000 state employees in Utah. These employees will work 10-hour days, Monday through Thursday, enjoying a regular 3-day weekend. A few areas of state employment will not make the change, namely the courts, prisons, and public universities. Oh, and apparently the state-run liquor stores (Who knew, right?) will remain open on Fridays.

Obviously there are mixed reactions to the decision. On the plus side, cutting back to a four-day work week will save an estimated three million dollars simply by closing down government buildings on Fridays, in addition to a yet-to-be estimated, but clearly substantial, savings on gasoline for commuters and on the use of vehicles owned and operated by the state. In addition to saving the state loads of money, the measure may also do wonders for the environment, reducing CO2 emissions and air pollution. And finally, while state employees will be working the same number of hours, they will have more flexibility during the weekend to take trips and share time with family.

One of the major obstacles for state employees in Utah, however, also has much to do with family time. Working ten-hour days, instead of the usual eight, puts a heavier burden on parents who will need to make arrangements for childcare and other obligations. And for families in general, whether children are in the picture or not, trying to enjoy quality time together during the evenings after a stressful ten hours at work may pose a problem. Finally, closing down (not all, but many) government offices on Fridays creates obvious boundaries to accessibility for citizens who need to use a government service.

If the transition is mediated appropriately, with respect to the needs and interests of the public, and with attention to the long-term implications of such a shift, I think the four-day work week in Utah could be very successful. And given the potential to cut back dramatically on energy use, the pros seem to outweigh the cons.

Personal Significance

The news in Utah hits close to home – not geographically, of course, but because I have a four-day (forty-hour) work week. In my case, I am fortunate enough to work for an employer who, despite a tradition of employees working fifty hours each week, has agreed to allow me to cut back to accommodate my graduate studies. My courses are online, which obviously makes it easier to fit them into my schedule. But the more intensive elements of my academic work, particularly researching and writing papers, are nearly impossible to delve into, at least to a significant degree, during the evening hours. So it’s nice to have a three-day weekend to fully engage in “homework mode.”

In addition to accommodating my graduate studies, working a four-day work week has allowed me to attend conferences and other academic, professional, and social events that I might otherwise miss due to conflicts with work hours or time required for travel. Keep in mind, of course, these opportunities involve a great deal of hard work – conferences, especially, assuming the event and its participants are worth their salt, can be especially exhausting. So, the mental, physical, and in many cases, emotional prep time that often is neglected is, in my opinion, invaluable.

Implications of a Shorter Work Week

There should be no secret that instituting a shorter work week is a significant way to reduce our dependence on oil. Millions of Americans drive to work every weekday morning, many of them alone in a car, and of course, due in great part to urban sprawl, across long distances. Taking one day off the work week theoretically cuts that energy use back by 20%, with the same being true for related greenhouse gas emissions. Makes sense, right?

Along with a shorter work week, it is reasonable to suggest that staggering the work week – ideally, 1/5 of the population taking Monday off, 1/5 taking Tuesday off, 1/5 taking Wednesday, off, etc. – could help with traffic congestion, reducing the need for new road construction, maintenance of existing roads, and naturally, the unnecessary stress of rush hour traffic (and related car accidents). Also, since people are using their cars less for commuting (and assuming they do not compensate, or worse, over-compensate, by doing extra driving over the weekend) we could expect fewer expenses for buying or maintaining motor vehicles.

I’m relatively fresh out of college (by this, I mean, a traditional, brick-and-mortar, small, four-year private university with a predominantly white, middle-class, and traditional college-age student population – I need to get better about referring to “college” as a universal experience). So I feel as if I am still in an adjustment period. I don’t buy into the “real world vs. college world” dichotomy. But clearly there is a difference in the routines, procedures, and expectations of college life and “post-college” life. Most notable, at least in my experience, next to a shift from values of learning, community, diversity, and compassion to something along the lines of production, competition, isolation, and alienation, has been a restriction in accessibility to basic public services.

When I was in college, if I needed to visit a dentist, pay a bill, organize an event, deliver something, gather information about the local community, call an elected official, or set up a protest, there was virtually no shortage of time to do so. No, my life was not free of responsibilities, as is an unfortunate and misguided stereotype of college students. I was a full-time student, worked several paid and volunteer jobs that ultimately amounted to a forty-hour work week (at least), and participated in a whole range of college and community activities. It was not by any stroke of luck that I was able to live this lifestyle – I was free to manage my own schedule. Now, obviously different employers have different expectations and policies in place regarding the scheduling of work – i.e. some treat employees like people, others treat employees like cogs in the wheel. Suffice it to say, without turning this into a rant, that our institutionalized expectations regarding work in industrial capitalism do not, at least to the extent that they could, reflect the needs and interests of human beings as citizens, caregivers, volunteers, change agents, and people with, you know, basic needs. The four-day work week, while still reinforcing the notion that everyone ought to commit at least 1/3 of our “awake time” in life in the workplace, takes an important step toward resolving this disconnect.

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What I’m Celebrating this 4th of July

July 3, 2008 at 12:55 am · Filed under Uncategorized ·Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , ,

As I have mentioned before, holidays (and anniversaries) generally are not a big deal to me. The only truly significant one that I recognize is April 9, marking the date that Andrea Dworkin passed away in 2005. I never met Andrea, but she touched my life in many ways, and I’m very grateful that she had the courage to stand up for prostituted women and other survivors of sexual violence who have been silenced by our culture. So I spend April 9 every year reading her writings, listening to her speeches, and contemplating ways her vision for life after patriarchy might be realized, maybe even in my lifetime. I also use this day as an opportunity to help others gain access to Andrea’s work – in material terms, of course, by sharing her books, but also by helping others understand and apply feminist theory.

April 9th aside, however, I don’t really celebrate holidays. I might go through the motions in some cases, but it is a far cry from “celebration.” When Christmas time rolls around, I engage in shopper mode just like the rest of the country. On Valentines’ Day, I do the romance thing, complete with the usual, tired, over-played symbols of love and affection (e.g. flowers, chocolates, and hetero-normative performance). And Independence Day is no exception – growing up, I don’t think a year went by that I didn’t spend the 4th of July with family watching fireworks and occasionally waving an American flag. What fireworks have to do with patriotism – and for that matter, patriotism with citizenship, nationalism with justice, etc. – I’m not quite sure. Hallow and meaningless as the experience might have been, I took part. My task in this post is to shed some light on what this particular holiday means to me and essentially to “reconstruct” the experience. Just in time, too. It’s almost officially Independence Day, and I have no plans!

For starters, fireworks are out. I do not need to see anything explode to appreciate our nation’s independence, freedom, democracy, or any other values intimately tied (correctly and incorrectly) to the history of the United States. I presume that they represent the “bombs bursting in air,” which do not seem especially supportive of the aforementioned values. And if we grant that war is necessary for independence, then maybe we ought to think about ‘inter’-dependence as an alternative.

Secondly, I am not going to celebrate being an American. I am no more an “American” than I am a global citizen. And while celebrating the latter seems redundant (if there is no exclusive guest list at the party, we can’t enjoy the same in-group/out-group hierarchy), it is, at the very least, a more sustainable way to live. I mean, if I’m “proud to be an American,” then I am accepting the responsibility of justifying to the rest of the world why the United States spends more on its military than all other nations combined. I would also need to justify why, with only 5% of the world’s population, the United States produces 25% of CO2 emissions and 30% of the world’s waste, while consuming 25% of the world’s natural resources. I am not prepared to do that.

On the other hand, there are many features of American society of which I am very proud. But rather than enforcing a love/hate, pride/disgust sort of “patriotic litmus test,” we ought to recognize that all Americans, to some degree, have mixed feelings about the country in which they live. They may be fond of certain aspects, while they are uncomfortable with others – ultimately, though, we are not talking about characteristics that are strictly American. So, if we love freedom, let’s celebrate it. If we love democracy, let’s celebrate it. But restricting these important concepts to narrowly-defined “Americanized” versions limits their full potential (almost to the point of making them meaningless).

On a related note, I did nothing to earn my status as an American and the privileges that come with it. So it seems a bit silly to pat myself on the back and rejoice in being American, especially when countless people are struggling desperately to get into this nation simply to survive. Thinking as global citizens, rather than strictly as Americans, perhaps we could use Independence Day as a time to work toward resolving these truly global injustices. Almost all of us have the day off from work – seriously, we have some spare time.

While I’m not digging on the fireworks and nationalistic fanfare, I do believe Independence Day is an excellent time to reflect on our history as a nation – the good, the bad, and everything in-between. What are our core values, if any, as a nation, and how do we know? What have we learned from our history? Where do we have room to grow (not in an imperialist fashion, but you know, something along the lines of resolving social problems, promoting peace, etc.)? These questions can facilitate a more thoughtful and productive dialog, one that may challenge taken-for-granted assumptions about what it means to be an American.

So here’s my plan, or at least pieces of it. This 4th of July I am going to start off the day with some French toast – yes, French toast, not freedom toast – to show my support for a nation with the courage to speak out against an unjust and criminal invasion of a sovereign nation (and in case you weren’t keeping track, they were right, Bush was lying, and we childishly renamed food items for no good reason). Then it’s off to a local park with a copy of Howard Zinn’s A People’s History of the United States, so I can be close to nature (which was around, in various forms, well before the United States, and will remain long after its collapse) and reflect on U.S. history. Then I plan to check out the 80/35 music festival in Des Moines and rejoice as several talented musicians perform, exercising their free speech at a progressive event (that will hopefully build more support for progressive music in DM). Along the way, I want to talk with people – here, there, everywhere – about what Independence Day means to them and what they are celebrating. I wish someone would have asked me a long time ago.

And if you made it this far in the post, enjoy this treat.

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