Every single person on Earth has loved and been loved. Even if we can’t put it into words, we know what love feels like, whether it be love for a parent, friend or significant other. Despite this universal experience, it’s difficult, if not impossible, to define exactly what love is.
Love is a trait that has been selected for through evolution, as it allows mothers to invest their time into caring for offspring. Therefore, love is not accidental or a side effect of being human; rather, it is an advantageous quality that has helped us survive for thousands of years. Love is not just an abstract feeling or set of chemical reactions in our brain, but a physical reality of the human body, often felt throughout the chest and head. Love must be expressed and externalized — humans crave giving and receiving affection. Thus, love is not just wanted, but needed, as our brains and bodies need love, whether it be platonic, familial or romantic, for the well-being of ourselves and our community. Despite love’s inherent importance to human life and wellbeing, capitalism has deeply interfered with modern humans’ ability to cultivate loving, fulfilling relationships with friends, family and significant others.
While love is nebulous, intrinsic and necessary, capitalism is the opposite: conversely defined, external and unnecessary. Characterized by the state’s lack of interference in the economy, capitalism is a free market economy system that assumes humans are motivated by their own interests and operate in the world as self-serving individuals. Capitalism as it manifests in American society has spawned a unique set of circumstances for the working and lower class, in which self-reliant individuals are expected to work for profit-motivated companies in order to survive, while becoming increasingly alienated from others and unable to focus on their relationships.
Capitalism pushes us to focus on individual achievement and career advancement rather than personal connection. We are forced to busy ourselves with work to keep up with expenses and bills, leaving little time to bond with our loved ones. To put it plainly, while we are still capable of feeling love, the work culture that capitalism has created interferes with our ability to fulfill that love.
The first way capitalism isolates us is through a grueling work schedule. In Dec. 2022, American private employees reported working an average of 34.3 hours with 3.2 overtime hours. 29% of Americans work 45-59 hours and 12% work over 60 hours per week. On top of this demanding work schedule, the U.S. gives Americans one of the lowest number of paid time off (PTO) in the world, with an average of 10 days of PTO.
The number of days per year and hours per day Americans spend working is staggering, and the effects are damning. With so many intimacy-starved and isolated individuals, American society as a whole suffers from the widely-felt and widely-observed work-oriented mindset.
Between the ages of 18 and 80, Americans spend most of their time alone. Because of this, as many as 3 out of 5 Americans report feeling lonely; 12% of Americans claim they have no close friends, with many claiming it is more difficult to make friends due to a “busy” schedule.
The work week affects families and intimate partners. Most Americans may spend less than 40 minutes of time with their families Monday through Friday, with 67% blaming long work hours. Moreover, some studies suggest an increased time spent working marks a decrease in marital satisfaction, while working less corresponds to increased marital satisfaction.
Working more than 39 hours a week can adversely affect mental health. News stations, journalists and others have written extensively about how Americans are overworked, underpaid, stressed and unhappy. This indescribable feeling of discontent seems to be widely observed and unanimously felt among the working class.
Humans need companionship. We are social creatures who thrive when surrounded by loved ones, yet a capitalist economy places work at the center of American life. Capitalism urges us to strive for profit, titles and money while our hearts yearn for community and intimacy. Capitalism hinders not our capacity for love, but our ability to express it.
Although capitalism fundamentally determines how our lives are organized, we shouldn’t collectively give up on the pursuit of love. While the abolition of capitalism is not a viable solution, small steps are being taken to give American workers the liberty to live a fulfilling life outside their jobs.
A six-hour work day or a four-day workweek could be a step in the right direction. In the UK, tests of the four-day workweek yielded promising results, including higher productivity and 84% of workers saying they were “extremely likely” to choose a four-day over a five-day work week. For a select few companies in the US, the four-day work week has already become a reality.
Moreover, many Americans who quit their jobs between spring 2021 and now report greater happiness, precisely because they have more time to spend with their loved ones. Even months later, those same people are ultimately more satisfied with their lives no longer dominated by work. Other working Americans are demanding better wages, better benefits and shorter hours.
That still leaves millions of individuals stuck with a 40-hour workweek. If possible, an individual could start or join a union to fight for their rights, but it’s an uphill battle against corporate adversaries. Furthermore, working for a company that offers flexible work hours is also an option, albeit, a limited one for many people.
In the end, the most important thing to do is stay connected with your loved ones in small ways. Though we may not have enough time, we should make the most of the time we do have. Anything from a brief five-minute call with a loved one after work, sending a text to your friends to check in, or spending time with your partner for a few hours on the weekend.
This is not an impossible situation. Americans are fighting against the pervasive work culture, paving a path for more fruitful, fulfilling futures. Because love — platonic, familial, romantic — cannot thrive under this capitalist state. A life in which love is not just an afterthought, but is a centerpiece in our lives is in sight.
Alexandra Kauffman (26C) is from Phoenix, Arizona.
