The answer clearly isn’t economic: it’s moral and political. The ruling class has figured out that a happy and productive population with free time on their hands is a mortal danger (think of what started to happen when this even began to be approximated in the ‘60s). And, on the other hand, the feeling that work is a moral value in itself, and that anyone not willing to submit themselves to some kind of intense work discipline for most of their waking hours deserves nothing, is extraordinarily convenient for them.
I just don't buy this. If you view capitalists as evil, they are doing it to pocket money, not as some grand conspiracy to keep people busy. If it were economically possible to keep people busy in a capitalist society, inflation would be zero.
I just don't buy this. If you view capitalists as evil, they are doing it to pocket money, not as some grand conspiracy to keep people busy. If it were economically possible to keep people busy in a capitalist society, inflation would be zero.