Episode 203: Unquieting Hearts For Profit.

August 16, 2022

Central Thesis

The episode argues that powerful forces (management, media, and even academia) actively worked to undermine the Kellogg's six-hour work day after WWII by redefining work itself and promoting the idea that fulfillment should be found in labor, thereby suppressing legitimate labor demands and manufacturing consent for longer hours.

Key Arguments

• Corporate Media as Propaganda: Jim asserts that corporate media is inherently compromised, functioning as "eye and ear candy that is used to sell advertising," and therefore cannot be trusted to provide unbiased information about labor practices.
• Redefining Work as Fulfillment: The host criticizes the "Human Relations" school of thought, particularly the ideas of McGregor and Hertzberg, for attempting to equate work with play and suggesting that businesses should fulfill the spiritual needs of employees. He sees this as a manipulative strategy to distract from worker dissatisfaction and suppress demands for better conditions.
• The Reader's Digest and Social Norms: Jim highlights an article in The Reader's Digest that promotes a religiously-tinged view of work as a "purifier of man" and "life itself," illustrating how these ideas seeped into mainstream culture. He points out Collier's argument that "modern business is primarily an attempt to fulfill the spiritual significance of the individual and of society."
• The Saturday Evening Post Story as Indoctrination: The host analyzes a Saturday Evening Post story, "Holiday for Howie," about a man driven to despair by a four-day work week, arguing it reinforced traditional gender roles and the idea that men should find fulfillment in full-time employment. The story's popularity among Kellogg's employees working eight-hour shifts demonstrates its impact.

Notable Passages

• "It's easier to save and rest than to earn and spend."
• "What you have to understand is that the official media, the old media, is 100% fake. It's basically whatever the advertisers want."
• "Work is the purifier of man. Work is life itself."
• "There is no way any of these fictional lifestyles that dared run counter to the one dictated by the sponsoring companies would ever see print, let alone production."

Rhetorical Approach

Jim relies heavily on historical analysis, particularly examining primary source material like the Saturday Evening Post story and the academic theories of McGregor and Hertzberg. He uses anecdotal evidence, referencing his own work experiences and the interviews in Honeycutt's book, to illustrate his points. A sarcastic, almost conspiratorial tone is present throughout, especially when discussing the motivations behind the promotion of "work as fulfillment."

Connections

• Episode 197: The Rabbits and the Work-Hogs on the history of the eight-hour day.
• Benjamin Honeycutt's book, Kellogg's Six-Hour Day.
• Daniel Pink's book, Drive.
• St. Augustine's concept of core inquiatum (the unquiet heart).
• Jeremy Bentham's hedonic calculus.