We aren't machines, so why act like them?
 | By Eleanor Barkhorn Editor at Large, Opinion |
"We actually compete with sleep," Reed Hastings, a co-C.E.O. of Netflix, declared in 2017. He made this statement triumphantly. In the battle of sleep versus a "Stranger Things" binge, he said, "we're winning!" |
To me, Hastings's comment was just depressing — a reminder of how the digital economy can profit when we deny deep human needs like sleep. |
This problem extends far beyond Netflix and our leisure time, of course. In the latest edition of her weekly Opinion newsletter, Tish Harrison Warren writes about the ways digital technology can dehumanize our work lives. |
She points to recent coverage of surveillance technology in the workplace, which can make people afraid to take a bathroom break or chat with a colleague. And she also laments broader trends in our society, including the expectation to be always available to check email, even on weekends and in the evenings, and our obsession with convenience, which pushes stores to stay open for long hours — which in turn creates a need for workers around the clock. |
How do we fight back against this? Warren looks to pro-worker movements of the past and how they fought for a 40-hour workweek and Sabbath laws that gave workers opportunities for rest, recreation and time with family. She argues that we need similar limits on work for today, so that we may all have "a healthy rhythm of work and rest," leading to "a life in which we can do good, hard, meaningful work and then truly leave it behind." |
Here's what we're focusing on today: |
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