From: orville%weyrich@tnet.com (Orville R. Weyrich)
Subject: Re: Why do Americans get so little vacation time?
Reply-To: tnet.com!weyrich!orville
Organization: Weyrich Computer Consulting
Date: Fri, 4 Sep 92 08:44:29 GMT

In article <1992Aug31.174310.2240@leland.Stanford.EDU> cjb@vega.stanford.edu writes:
>In article <1992Aug29.040217.2456@weyrich.UUCP> orville%weyrich@tnet.com  
>(Orville R. Weyrich) writes:
>> >
>> >What ever happened to "life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness"?
>> 
>> 1) Some people enjoy their work.
>> 
>
>I do too, Orville, and I think one is fortunate indeed to find a job or a  
>calling which affords you the opportunity for interesting and meaningful  
>work. I also enjoy a lot of other things and I do not think it is  
>unreasonable, self-indulgent, unproductive, or economically subversive to  
>want some time during the course of my life to enjoy them -- "Life,  
>liberty, and the pursuit of happiness".  It comes down to a question of  
>balance; remember that quaint ancient Greek idiom about "a healthy mind in  
>a healthy body"?  Much as I enjoy solving a challenging problem and  
>crafting a fine and elegant solution to it, I know that my performance,  
>attention, creativity and general state of mind deteriorate if I cannot  
>take a break that is long enough to truly refresh and revitalise me.   
>Nothing worthwhile is achieved without hard work and periods of intense  
>focussed attention.  The issue isn't one of laziness, enjoyment or  
>otherwise; its a question of giving a person some breathing space, for  
>cryin' out loud. The free market ideology regards human beings as  
>disposable commodities and has no need for such considerations since if  
>employment is a market transaction the past, future, and humanity of that  
>person are irrelevant to the job at hand. Burn 'em out and throw them  
>away; others can be bought.  I place that on a level with slavery, fascism  
>and communism.  Why two weeks vacation?  Why not one, or none at all?   
>Wouldn't that be even better for productivity?  Its all a matter of where  
>you think the line should be drawn, and that in turn rests on one's  
>values.  

To me it is really an issue of individualism versus government-mandated
one-size-fits all regulation. Each individual can negotiate for their desired
amount (and distribution) of vacation time. Lest you scoff, let me propose
two extreme [unrealistic] examples. Reality will lie somewhere between the
extremes.

1) Employee says: You can cut my pay in half, but I don't want to work more
than 32 hours/week. Employer says: What a bargin! Deal!

2) Employer says: You have to take a 1% cut in pay, but I will let you
reduce your work to 32 hours/week. Employee says: What a bargin! Deal!

I doubt that there are many employers that wouldn't go for #1, and I doubt
that there are many employees that wouldn't go for #2. 

In between these two extremes is a continuum of other scenarios. Not all 
employees will be able to find mutually agreeable arrangements with all
employers, but that is no surprise -- it happens anyway. There are many
people that just simply do not like the "style" of a particular company, and
would not work there at any price. There are many companies that just simply
do not like the "style" of a particular individual and would not hire them if
they were the only worker available. Yet the individual is productively
employed elsewhere, and the company has many other happy employees. Why is
central regulation enforced by the federal government necessary?

As an example, I cannot imagine any company offering me enough money for me to
move to LA [no offense, I'm sure many folks are quite happy there]. But I am
willing to take a cut in pay in order to remain where I currently reside.
Why should the issue of amount and distribution of vacation time be any 
different?

If you are going to make "quality of life" arguments, you must be willing to
consider trade-offs such as lower income or higher prices for consumer goods.
Money [or money equivalents] cannot be created out of thin air. Unless you can
demonstrate that the reduction in time on the job can be fully compensated
for by increases in productivity, you have to accept reductions in other 
aspects of life, such as lowered income or higher prices [and hence worsened
balance of trade and lower material standard of living].

The right of the individual to set his/her own priorites must be preserved,
simply because different people have different value systems. There is no
legitimate reason for central government to force one point of view on the
entire workforce and their employers. If everyone in the country simply
told employers "we won't work for you unless you give us a month of vacation"
then employers would have no choice but to agree. But everyone won't, because
they don't all have one full month of vacation as their highest priority.

You say it can't work? Then consider why in many parts of the country
fast food resturants pay their high-school students above minimum wage to 
shove french fries into a bag? It isn't government interference, its the
fact that high school kids [in some places] say that otherwise it simply
isn't worth it. If the people feel strongly about vacation, then government
interference isn't necessary. And if the people don't feel strongly about it,
doesn't the federal government have more important things that they should be
doing? 

Hint -- most polls show that most people in this country are pretty p*ssed
at their government these days. And 5 will get you 10 it isn't because they
are angry that Congress hasn't passed a law forcing employers to give them
a full month of vacation each year.

orville

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Orville R. Weyrich, Jr.                          Weyrich Computer Consulting
Certified Data Processor                       POB 5782, Scottsdale, AZ 85261
Certified Systems Professional                      Voice: (602) 391-0821
Certified Computer Programmer                Internet: orville%weyrich@tnet.com
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