Time Wars

Via Boing Boing:

…it is clear that most political struggles at the moment amount to a war over time.

INCUBATE-special: Exclusive essay ‘Time-wars’ by Mark Fisher : Gonzo (circus) | Tijdschrift over vernieuwende muziek en cultuur

The extra time we were promised through use of modern technology hasn’t materialized. Instead, we’re working harder than ever.

Points to ponder from the article:

  • No such thing as the long term because measures like safety net programs and the pensions an earlier generation worked for are going away.
  • Technology has tethered us to work more closely than ever.
  • The wealth divide isn’t because a few people are rich. It’s because the rest have to work hard every day to earn a fraction of what a large investment passively gains in interest.
  • “Only prisoners have time to read.”

The author blames the war on time as the fault of neoliberals who want to reduce government spending and put everyone on the treadmill of meaningless work. That sounds like something to be worked out by the theorists and activists. Meanwhile, simply developing a stronger sense of contentment in the Biblical sense may go a long way to getting us off that treadmill.