John de Graaf

Latest Posts in John de Graaf

“The robots are coming…the robots are coming!”

If Paul Revere were riding now with the purpose of warning America against a clear and present danger, he might well proclaim, “The robots are coming!”  For indeed they are, and quickly.  Until now, though technology has reduced jobs at an ever-increasing rate, we’ve been able to create new ones just as fast, though many of these have been low-wage service positions and others, low-security “gig economy” activity. 


National Take Back Your Time Conference at Seattle University August 25-27

The Take Back Your Time movement, of which John de Graaf is a co-founder, has been working for many of these things for 14 years, hoping to bring the United States into the 21st Century as it is experienced in most wealthy countries.  We will be discussing many of these issues at our Time Matters: National Take Back Your...


Changing The Rules Of Work

Though it was far from front-page news, the Obama administration’s Labor Department action this month on overtime pay may be one of the most significant of his entire presidency. 

Prior to the new rules change, employees earning more than $23,500 a year (a salary close to the poverty level) could be re-classified as managers, allowing their employers to avoid paying them the time-and-a-half overtime premium, or even paying them...


Well-Being and Happiness

WELL-BEING AND HAPPINESS—AN ATTEMPT AT DEFINITIONS

These days, there seems to be a growing consensus that the old measurements that nations have used to evaluate economic success—most notably, the Gross Domestic Product—are blunt swords which tell us little about quality of life.  Around the world, many countries are looking for new metrics.  In October, I joined 1400 people from 60 countries at the OECD’s annual Measuring Well-...


Polarized Pets…and Stressed-Out Kids

Inequality isn’t just bad for people.  It also affects our companion animals.   In the modern American economy, some workers have become money-rich and time-poor.  Others, who lost jobs or were downsized during the recent recession, became time richer but money poor.  And many Americans, forced to work multiple jobs to make ends meet are poor in both time and money.  In each case, pets are affected. 

In the first case,...