The Economic Consequences of Increasing Sleep among the Urban Poor

You don't hafta read the whole article above the screenshot to understand, just from the abstract, that it's all about squeezing as much productivity as possible from exhausted human beings.

And it doesn't take much imagination to understand that companies expect flesh & blood to behave the same way machines do.

The grand, bold promise of AI and automation creating sooo much leisure time for humanity is perhaps one of the biggest, most vile lies that the working poor have ever endured. They are certainly justified in their anger and frustration. They're the relentlessly exploited class of humanity whose blood, sweat and tears have literally created every empire on the planet, yet they're never allowed to reap the obscenely wealthy harvest that they've sown.

The only reason anybody knows who Elon Musk or Jeff Bezos are... is because of the millions of desperate, powerless people they've robbed & exploited to build their global empires.

You're never told about the land they stole, from those who couldn't fight against high-level lawyers, to build their facilities... or the under-the-table money paid to state & local governments to get around certain laws. You don't hear about the intolerable working conditions or the non-disclosure agreements. You don't read about the serious health issues created by those working conditions or the way a whistleblower's life is completely upended or even threatened, after they reveal all the dirty little secrets of the "workplace culture".

Who the fuck has lost so much of their capacity for independent thought and humanity that they believe this is normal and acceptable? Congratulations - you've become the mindless, cold, robotic object that corporations always wanted. Why don't you apply at your nearest Amazon fulfillment center? You're exactly what they're looking for. Hope you've got good bowel & bladder control.

Ask anybody who's ever slaved away in retail for at least a year about how much these businesses who thrive on apathetic employees, unchecked consumerism & environmental destruction "appreciate" you.

You're an expendable asset to be used until you're destroyed; nothing more. You're no different to your boss than the toilet you endlessly clean or the paperwork you constantly shuffle.

And we've been trained to see that idea as a virtue and defend it. Capitalism thrives on acceptance of conditions that create desperation, destruction & inequity. Take any of those qualities away from the system of capitalism and it will crumble. You can't become a billionaire if your employees are paid fairly for their labor and treated with compassion. Monopolies can't exist when corruption is punished and those with more are forced to pay their fair share.

And the day that the insignificant ants who hold up these mighty empires decide to walk away is the day when it all comes crashing down.