Do you want to thank something for the 8 hour workday, the decline of racism and sexism, the end of child labor, and a host of other social improvements in society?Thank capitalism.
Because of the increased productivity of industry, an increase made possible by capitalist investment, the economy became efficient enough to allow for leisure with abundance. Child labor is as old as mankind, tribalism dates back to before the Greeks, sexism is even older, and the old 'workday' was from sunup to sundown, ending for the exhausted manual laborer in an unlit, unheated hovel.
The exponentially increased productive power of capitalism is the best - indeed, the only - hope for anything like the 'socialist dream' to ever enter the realm of reality. If your activism is meant to point out problems in the present state of society (presumably, with some semblance of a lucid solution) then your time isn't necessarily wasted. If it is hell-bent on a crusade to topple the 'capitalist regime' you are being far less than helpful. Such petulance only prolongs the day when increased productivity makes the rationing of consumer goods through an economic system meaningless.
Until then, you might be better served to open a McDonald's franchise of your own. You would provide jobs for your 'comrades', help feed the world, and - no doubt with your 'superior' conscience - be able to influence the quality of food in a real way. Or would that be too practical for the fancy of theoretical academian idealogues?
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McSpotlight: A couple of thoughts, D.C.; not taking sides, or anything, but I've seen a number of studies recently showing that the average night's sleep has decreased by about 2 hours per night in the last 100 years; attributable to electric light. Is this a good or a bad thing?
None.
