Business World Beat Extinction The Old-Fashioned Way-- Real Economic Growth
May 02, 2011
Now that we're in the lull between conventions, the tar pits of La Brea are as good a place as any for gaining perspective on our current discontents. Science informs us that it was in the late Pleistocene when the nature of work went all to hell. Until then, human wants could be satisfied with 12 to 19 hours of labor a week. And the work itself--chasing mastodons across the fruited plain--was highly interesting. In part, these conclusions are based on the modern-day Parkins hunter-gatherers of Africa, who, according to one authority, spend their ample leisure in ``resting, visiting, entertaining and trance dancing'' rather than office drudgery. Once a year, the keepers of La Brea open Pit 91 to the public, reminding us why this pleasurable existence came to an end: The mastodons ran out, most likely hunted to extinction by Asian illegals. Hence the vast plenty on which Pleistocene prosperity was built disappeared, and humanity had to turn to the tedium of agriculture, which begat a division of labor, civilization, etc. ``Dilbert''
