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	Voices Take Back Your Time by Robert Bernstein, one of the authors of Take Back Your Time and longtime social justice activist. Bernstein currently works a leisurely schedule for Invenios, Inc. Americans are the most overworked people in the industrialized world today, having surpassed even the Japanese in hours worked per year. Worker productivity increases about two percent each year, yet the 40-hour work week is never adjusted for this, causing both overwork and unemployment. Instead of accepting a system that creates billionaires and working poor, it is time to adopt one in which everyone does well. October 24 is the day Americans could stop working for the year if we worked the same hours per year as Europeans. Hundreds of events last year marked that day as Take Back Your Time Day, and a companion book called Take Back Your Time is out in bookstores everywhere. This month, the Take Back Your Time conference brought people from around the world together in Seattle. We took time out of our busy schedules for a vision of a better world with less chaos and more time to enjoy our lives. With shorter work hours, more people are needed to perform the same work, reducing unemployment and raising wages by supply and demand. This leads to a reduction in crime, domestic violence, drug use, hunger, unemployment insurance, and homelessness. Our society imprisons more people per capita than any other nation on Earth. The cost in dollars and wasted lives is enormous. Reducing unemployment by combating overwork increases hope, resulting in a more peaceful society. Similarly, less time at work leaves more time for participation in community, volunteer, and democratic activities. Overwork affects nearly every facet of our society. Our healthcare system is both a source and a victim of overwork. The U.S. is the only industrialized country without universal healthcare. Separating healthcare from employment lets employers spread work among more employees without the extra overhead. Overwork is also a source of stress and fatigue that harms public health. For instance, about half of motor vehicle and work accidents are a direct result of sleep deprivation due to overwork. Overwork also wastes resources. Using cars as our primary mode of transportation creates sprawl that forces everyone to spend more time in transit and earning money for transit. The process is called Time Pollution, explained in greater detail in the Take Back Your Time book. Europeans, who work nine fewer weeks per year than we do, also drive half as many miles. Furthermore, overworked people recycle less. They are more likely to eat frozen- or fast-food meals that consume more resources and create more waste than home-prepared or homegrown meals. Reduced work hours can also signify longer vacations or yearlong sabbaticals to experience a completely different lifestyle or location, or to participate in lifelong education. Europeans take four- to six-week vacations at a very different pace and mind-set than Americans. Americans often try to jam in a city or a national park each day, flying or driving as fast as possible to fit it all into two weeks or less of vacation. More free time also means more time with family and friends. Overscheduled childhood was a major theme at our Seattle convention. “Go out and play and be home in time for dinner” is a foreign concept in most families these days, because hectic schedules eliminate family dinners and turn playing into a regimented, scheduled activity. In Europe, work and school schedules overlap more closely than here, which allows parents to work more reasonable hours and have time with their children. Maintaining overwork causes inefficiency. For instance, we subsidize trucking even though railroads are more efficient because truckers don’t want to lose their jobs. Many military programs are tied to “creating jobs” in a Congressmember’s district more than to actual security needs. Right now, Americans are working about a week a year just to pay for the war in Iraq. If work hours are adjusted to absorb people laid off from unnecessary or even destructive work, we all benefit. Shorter work time is a win-win solution to many societal problems. People who are free of mandatory work have more time to dream and to achieve their best, leading to a greater quality of life for everyone. To learn more about Shorter Work Time and Take Back Your Time Day, visit swt.org.