This is a well-trodden topic, but this was an interesting and new theory for me
This is a well-trodden topic, but this was an interesting and new theory for me
In the 1970 book The Harried Leisure Class, the Swedish economist Staffan Burenstam Linder wrote that as a society gets richer, leisure time takes on the frantic quality of work. As rich people feel like their downtime is scarce—as each non-working hour practically shouts, “excuse me! you could be making money, right now!” —the experience of leisure time speeds up. We multitask and pack various downtime activities into short periods. Firing up a Netflix show at 9pm that you can half-ignore while you answer email is a perfect activity for people who need their leisure time to feel like half-productive box-checking. Taking several hours to coordinate with other busy people to set up a lengthy dinner party is a tougher sell for the harried leisure class.
I feel I experience this with my evenings, I do not think it has anything to do with the amount of money I have. I think it is close to what they say though. My day is full of family and work...
As rich people feel like their downtime is scarce—as each non-working hour practically shouts, “excuse me! you could be making money, right now!” —the experience of leisure time speeds up. We multitask and pack various downtime activities into short periods. Firing up a Netflix show at 9pm that you can half-ignore while you answer email is a perfect activity for people who need their leisure time to feel like half-productive box-checking.
I feel I experience this with my evenings, I do not think it has anything to do with the amount of money I have. I think it is close to what they say though. My day is full of family and work responsibilities therefore I want to make the most out of my evenings because I know it is straight to more work when I wake up.
I do plan lots of group events though.
Taking several hours to coordinate with other busy people to set up a lengthy dinner party is a tougher sell for the harried leisure class.
I feel like this applies to middle class and lower but not upper middle class and higher.
I do not know for Sweden but in America the middle to upper class had black live in help two generations ago. Many peoples’ parents grew up with this help. Therefore having multiple parties was easy because the planners, typically the woman, only had to do the thinking, none of the physical work. It is hard to have the culture continue to exist without relying on taking advantage of African American women with bad pay.
This is a well-trodden topic, but this was an interesting and new theory for me
I feel I experience this with my evenings, I do not think it has anything to do with the amount of money I have. I think it is close to what they say though. My day is full of family and work responsibilities therefore I want to make the most out of my evenings because I know it is straight to more work when I wake up.
I do plan lots of group events though.
I feel like this applies to middle class and lower but not upper middle class and higher.
I do not know for Sweden but in America the middle to upper class had black live in help two generations ago. Many peoples’ parents grew up with this help. Therefore having multiple parties was easy because the planners, typically the woman, only had to do the thinking, none of the physical work. It is hard to have the culture continue to exist without relying on taking advantage of African American women with bad pay.