Ironically, this downtime is where a lot of economic value comes from — through innovation…

Ironically, this downtime is where a lot of economic value comes from — through innovation, hobbies, tinkering, etc.

I like your focus on non-economic forms of poverty. Before COVID, it was possible for young professionals to make $150-200k/year (necessary to afford a home in CA) — and still be poor. You would work 80 hours/week to do it, and your life would be absolute hell. It was emotional poverty, time poverty, and health poverty. Working like this ruins you, from the inside out. But if you quit, you had no health insurance and your career was over.

Somewhere we got this idea that people can work like machines, and things would be great. Success was defined solely in monetary terms.

There is more to life. Defining success in this way is myopic and cruel. The body breaks down — mentally, physically, and emotionally. Innovation and ingenuity (the traditional drivers of American economic success) are impossible under these circumstances. At 12-14 hours/day, every waking moment is work.

80 hours/week happens in America — regularly, in some industries.