![]() Do that, they were told, and their positions and wages would be safe. Workers were expected to clock in, get the job done, and go home. It was long assumed that economic risk was the business of capitalists and investors. The key message here is: When work and leisure become indistinguishable, doing “nothing” looks like a waste of time. Their laws remain in effect, but the distinction they drew between work and leisure looks increasingly shaky today. In the twentieth century, reformers made the eight-hour workday a reality. As a popular trade union song of the era put it, the purpose of the struggle was to secure “eight hours of work, eight hours of rest, and eight hours of what we will.” This was a demand for a life outside work – the right to do nothing in particular for at least one third of the day. ![]() They didn’t just want more time to heal their sore muscles, though. In the 1880s, American laborers began pushing for an eight-hour workday. ![]()
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