Yes, you really do need to work so much

[Ed. - I know the terms "white collar," "creative class," "professional class" and "knowledge worker" aren't necessarily interchangeable. But for the purposes of this article they all mean the same thing, which is basically "people who make money without doing manual labor."]

I've read a bunch of articles like The New Yorker's "You Really Don't Need to Work So Much" that walk the same whine-path. The general logic-flow goes:

"Technology was supposed to make the effete, entitled existence of the professional class easier. But we're all working 80 hours a week. What gives? Must be dat 'Murican work ethic!"

Every time I see one of these articles, I feel like I owe my grandparents an apology. But let's set aside my liberal guilt. The real problem with this this article, and others like it, it that they miss the actual relationship between technology and productivity.

First, we're overworking not despite labor-saving devices, but because of them. The means of production are so cheap, worker hours are the only thing left a business can bill its clients. So we have to work a lot of them to stay profitable.

Second, white collar workers work more than blue collar workers because they physically can. After eight hours plowing a field, a farmer collapses. But you can keep lawyers at their desks for 36 hours before their heads hit the keyboard. Or so I hear.

Third, these articles ignore the subjective nature of white collar work. Corn either grows or it doesn't. But who can prove what shade of blue best complements tangerine? The modern workplace exists in a constant state of decision anxiety. We're able to produce a literally infinite amount of options. And there's no way a creative worker can claim hardship, because each iteration, by itself, only takes a moment to execute.

Fourth and worst, articles like "You Really Don't Need to Work So Much" assume we still live in a world where output, accountability and decision making are valued. They're not. The buzzwords of the modern workplace are "collaboration" and "feedback." And democracy moves at a glacial pace.

I'll never forget the day I stood on a commercial set and watched my client use her phone to snap a photo of the first of a dozen set-ups we were scheduled to shoot. "What are you doing?" I asked.

"Just sending this back to the marketing team to see if anyone has any feedback before we start."

"Your entire marketing team?"

She nodded like I was a child.

The set was littered with designers and stylists, key grips and sound technicians. The director looked over at me, waiting for me to nod my head. "What are we supposed to do in the meantime?" I asked my client, watching all our weekends disappear before my eyes.

"Well," she said turning her eyes back to her phone, "I have a bunch of emails to get through."