TheAgitator.com
The Tyranny of Mustard
Tuesday, May 4th, 2004In a nod to Barry Schwartz, I think that’s what we’ll start calling posts relating to silly, pissant critiques of wealth, capitalism and prosperity.
Today’s entry comes courtesy of the Wall Street Journal’s “Career Journal” section, which ran a column by Kris Maher encouraging you, dear reader, to take more vacations. For your own good. Fair enough.
But here’s the kicker graph:
Some workers, however, are trying to turn Americans’ vacation habits around. Several loosely organized groups of worker-rights activists and employees who feel overworked are trying to build support for legislation for mandatory vacation time. “One of the essential points of why the vacation problems exist in this country is that we don’t have a minimum-paid-leave law,” says Joe Robinson, an organizer of one such initiative, called the Work to Live Campaign, and author of “Work to Live: the Guide to Getting a Life.”Mr. Robinson believes American companies wouldn’t suffer a loss in productivity if they planned vacation schedules at the beginning of the year and cross-trained employees to perform tasks, as many European companies do. He also believes increased vacation time could cut stress-related illnesses and help slow rising health-care costs.
Empahsis mine. In Mr. Robinson’s world, you will by law required to take three weeks vacation, and you’ll be required to have planned those three weeks in advance on January 1.
And it’s for your own good!
I heard Robinson speak on the radio several weeks ago (actually, I can’t remember if it was him — but it was someone backing the same legislation he is). He’s worried that even if his legislation passed, some laborers would take “working vacations,” giving them an unfair advantage over those who really do leave it all back at the office. Consequently, he said, he would even support some sort enforcement policy to ensure that vacationing workers actually relax on their mandated vacations!
He didn’t get into specifics.
Lordy, that’s just what we need, a Vacation Gestapo…
I know, let’s pass a law. I don’t really care what the long term aspects are as long as my law passes. Just keep giving me Survivor and cheap Big Macs.
Obvious nanny-state solution to Robinson’s worry about “working vacations”: Government mandated “What I did during my summer vacation” essays.
But van, what if your big macs are less weight than my big macs? Then you’d be getting ripped off. Let’s set a law for the guaranteed weight of the big mac. And let’s set a law that the weight has to be determined by a specific scale only made in Yugoslavia. That scale must be shipped here in cases 15′ by 8′ and must have packaging tape around the edges so as not to contaminate the scale. When it gets here, we should pass a law that it must be tested by a company to see if it was damaged in transit. Those testers must wear Nylon gloves and goggles…….oh where does it end?
Does this mean mandatory sex on vacation? If so, what if a married couple goes on vacation together and he finds sex relaxing while it’s only work for her? Will the vacation gestapo fine her but pat him on the back? What if she fakes an orgasm? And prostitutes! Does this mean they are forbidden from having sex on vacation? Geez, I’m confused. I think the VGA (Vacation Gestapo Administration) is going to need an operative in every hotel room. They’re going to require a big budget too. In fact we might as well make it a cabinet level position . . .
Seriously, the well-meaning folks who think this stuff up are too dangerous for their own good. It would be fine if they only affected their own lives but they want power over all of our lives as well. Today I wrote a letter to Radley arguing every vote for the libertarian candidate this year is crucial, even if you think Kerry grid-lock has merits. This is a case in point. I submit that the statistics of such votes will be rolled into the democrat column on all issues, including idiocies like mandatory vacations. Libertarians need to get on the radar with a percentage of general election votes in order to gain momentum for real change fifty to one-hundred years from now.
Hey, why not? Mandatory vacations have done wonders for the French economy.
I’m very much in favour of this. I also think we need to move toward mandatory mid-morning exercise breaks for office workers, with imposing female health and safety officers hired to shout at us and…
Okay, I’m getting carried away. I still feel bitter about having to slink out at lunchtime and pay for what should be a public service.
ok. i give up. kerry for president.
This is wrong. All of the jobs I have worked as a professional have allowed for at least 1 week of vacation time after 1 year of work (and usually more after accruing time with the company).
In my experience, many people don’t even use all of their vacation (unless they lose it at the end of the year). It’s just nice to know that you have it when you need or want it. I like to work. Americans in general like ot work. Americans work on average 40 hours a week. That is only 25% of the entire week. We drive to and from work or take a train or bus, but we don’t have to walk miles to get there. Most of us probably spend the first half hour or so sipping coffee and catching up on news (guilty). AARRGGGHH! What are we coming to (falling on knees, face in hands sobbing my Academy Award winning sob).
As long as Bush is in office, there will be no mandatory vacation time. I’ve just been given one more reason to vote for him again. Woohoo!
Actually Ms. Dani, I’m already king of the nanny state so why stop now? Besides, Karl Rove thinks it will pick me up a couple of votes come November.
I think we need to take this a step further and make employers pay to send me to a tropical paradise on my vacation. After all, the status quo is unfair to the millions of working Americans who can’t afford a Club Med vacation.
Actually, this might be an interesting foreign aid initiative. Instead of giving cash to, say, Brazil as economic aid, we pay to send American tourists there and give them pocket money to spend in the local economy. It would ensure that the wealth doesn’t get trapped at the top of the socioeconomic scale, and it would encourage free trade.
We have too much wealth and comfort in this country. We need to have a war and pestilence and economic depression in order to get Americans to wake up and appreciate more what they have instead of whining about not enough vacation time in the Hamptons.
Amy, there are two additional benefits to your clever little scheme.
Firstly, American tourists spending money can’t help but use it more efficiently in boosting the local economy than the usual foreign aid efforts.
Secondly, as Brazil have threatened to fingerprint American visitors, a deal could be cut to share those files with the Department of Homeland Security, thus saving any constitutionally tricky efforts to get these important details on file through official channels.
With the California gubernatorial election in 2002, followed by the successful Davis recall in 2003, followed immediately by the primary election for GOP candidate for U.S. Senate against Boxer, I hadn’t taken a vacation in the past couple of years.
I finally took a week off just a couple of weeks ago, and spent the whole time working around the house, getting all the special projects done that I’d ignored for far too long.
Working around my house is hard work, but relaxing for me. It also increases the resale value of my house, so it can be considered to be a “working vacation” by the same people who would propose this sort of stupid law.
I guess they’d ship me off for a couple of weeks to a forced relaxation camp in Baja or something…
You WILL submit to the shiatsu massage!
Can we start with government employees? I propose a mandatory 52-week unpaid vacation each year for every government employee.
I guarantee that will boost productivity.