Holiday is a basic human right

[Sasaki Kojiro]

'The right to rest and leisure'

This leisure needs to be put into practicable law. What was considered appropriate leisure fifty years ago is not appropriate by current standards. A foreign holiday was a luxury in 1950, reserved for only the very rich. Nowadays, it is so common amongst the working class, that to be deprived of it amounts to social exclusion.

Electricity, a telephone, access to bathing facilities at one point were considered luxuries too, but are now a basic right.

They aren't though. You have the right to have access to electricity. But if you don't pay your bill you don't get none.

I think we should value rest and leisure much more highly than we do though. 4 day workweek!

[Louis VI the Fat]

I think we should value rest and leisure much more highly than we do though. 4 day workweek!

One of my pet peeves. Why has so little of economic progress been converted into buying time for people?

Surely one of the greatest improvements in quality of life for the working classes since 1850 has been to reduce working hours and extend time off from work in weekends and vacations? Why did this stop?

[Louis VI the Fat]

Wow, that's stupid.

CR

Welcome to Europe, where it's considered progress that a worker no longer sweats in a factory for sixteen hours a day, six days a week, no holidays, from age five until death.

[Sasaki Kojiro]

One of my pet peeves. Why has so little of economic progress been converted into buying time for people?

Surely one of the greatest improvements in quality of life for the working classes since 1850 has been to reduce working hours and extend time off from work in weekends and vacations? Why did this stop?

I don't know, but it seems people consistently underestimate the value of vacation time. One of our blind spots, either innate or cultural, I guess.

Welcome to Europe, where it's considered progress that a worker no longer sweats in a factory for sixteen hours a day, six days a week, no holidays, from age five until death.

[Crazed Rabbit]

'The right to rest and leisure'

This leisure needs to be put into practicable law. What was considered appropriate leisure fifty years ago is not appropriate by current standards. A foreign holiday was a luxury in 1950, reserved for only the very rich. Nowadays, it is so common amongst the working class, that to be deprived of it amounts to social exclusion.

Electricity, a telephone, access to bathing facilities at one point were considered luxuries too, but are now a basic right.

So who's depriving those people?

CR

[Tellos Athenaios]

Well the way the article describe it, is -as you said- certainly `stupid'. Doesn't mean much in itself, though. For instance this could be about a more centralised version of various local tourism subsidies converted into an EU-wide programme; made to look more important than it is with the usual ill-conceived political rhetoric. Or it could be nothing but some tourism journalist getting worked up over nothing.

[Andres]

What they're doing in the article is pretty silly.

But yeah, holiday is a basic human right. And I wholeheartedly agree with Louis. People should get more days off. Sasaki's 4 day work week is a good idea. Laziness is underrated nowadays.

[Seamus Fermanagh]

An interesting idea for blending Europe into a broader cross-cultural society for sure.

Oh and as for proclaiming this a new right, that's flat out not true. The Declaration of Human Rights Article 24 already states:

Everyone has the right to rest and leisure, including reasonable limitation of working hours and periodic holidays with pay.

So debate the idea all you like, just don't claim it is a new thing - this has been around since the 40s.

40's if you mean 3040s BCE or thereabouts. Check Exodus 20:10. Nothing about pay mentioned one way or another though. That's probably more recent.


Down-time/rest is a human NEED. Whether or not it can be construed as a right is a matter of perspective. Deny it completely and for long enough, however, and things start to get sloppy.

[a completely inoffensive name]

So who's depriving those people?

CR

Companies who want workers to work more days and/or hours and lobby to prevent such legislation for vacation from passing? Governments who dont raise the minimum wage since 1997, killing the purchasing power of the poor through inflation over decades causing them to work more hours to keep the the bare minimum standard of living above poverty?