Middle-Class Serfdom

About this Episode

What happens when we adopt a thousand other jobs that we never used to do? DIY but not for yourself.

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Episode Links

• Are People Really More Busy? The Rise of Shadow Work | The Art of Manliness — In the modern age, we have the same 24 hours a day that every human has enjoyed for thousands of years. But when you look around, you might be forgiven for thinking that time has somehow sped up and that our days have grown shorter. People seem harried and worn out. If you ask them how they’re doing, “Busy, busy, busy!” is often the answer. 40% of Americans say they’re overworked, half feel there are too many tasks to complete each week, two-thirds feel they don’t have enough time for themselves or their spouses, and three-fourths say they don’t get to spend as much time with their kids as they’d like. And as far as the other parts of life, well, they can’t be bothered with them at all.
• Shadow Work: The Unpaid, Unseen Jobs That Fill Your Day: Lambert, Craig: 9781619027367: Amazon.com: Books — Shadow work includes all the unpaid tasks we do on behalf of businesses and organizations. It has slipped into our routines stealthily; most of us do not realize how much of it we are already doing, even as we pump our own gas, scan and bag our own groceries, execute our own stock trades, and build our own unassembled furniture. But its presence is unmistakable, and its effects far–reaching.
• Willpower: How to Strengthen and Conserve Your Willpower | The Art of Manliness — Okay, so in order to strengthen your willpower, you need to work towards reaching a goal or changing/creating a habit. But everyone who’s ever tried to do that knows it’s not easy! How do you get enough willpower to strive towards and achieve your aims in the first place?
• How Willpower is Depleted | The Art of Manliness — Every time you have a desire to do something that conflicts with accepted social norms or with your values and goals, and your willpower overrides that desire and keeps you on track, part of your willpower supply gets depleted. The stronger the desire and the harder it is to resist, the more of your willpower fuel is burned up in the struggle.
• Overwhelmed: How to Work, Love, and Play When No One Has the Time: Schulte, Brigid: 9781250062383: Amazon.com: Books — When award-winning journalist Brigid Schulte, a harried mother of two, realized she was living a life of all work and no play, she decided to find out why she felt so overwhelmed. This book is the story of what she discovered―and of how her search for answers became a journey toward a life of less stress and more leisure.
• Catechism of the Catholic Church — CCC 2481 Boasting or bragging is an offense against truth. So is irony aimed at disparaging someone by maliciously caricaturing some aspect of his behavior.
• Professional Cuddler — At the age of 30, Hess is a professional cuddler. For $60 an hour, she'll intimately snuggle with strangers of all types, and bring them one-on-one cuddle time without the complications of a relationship. The idea came to her in 2012, when she read an article about a guy with a "Free Hugs" sign at a local Saturday market. Another man stood next to him with a "Deluxe hugs, $2" sign, and ended up getting more hugs than the first guy.