Problem: Full-time jobs often suck. Many spend most of their lives doing unfulfilling work. We miss free time and intellectual stimulation.
Solution: Government-mandated 30 hour maximum work weeks, alongside cheap college classes for all ages.
Your Life: You are now only allowed to work 30 hours a week. Your company, grumbling slightly, hires more people, ensuring that more families are bringing in at least a little income. Extreme poverty drops. You get paid less, so you spend more time shopping for holiday gifts on Craigslist and other sites that recycle old things, contributing to a more environmentally-friendly society overall. Your husband decides to start a vegetable garden in the backyard. You spend more time with your kids, helping them with their homework. You aren’t burned out, so you take them to the park. Our national health and intelligence skyrocket.
Your School: But even with all of the nice stuff in your life, you’ve still got some extra time after you finish up your shortened days at the closet design company. So you spend three hours a week going to any college classes you want. You dabble in business, the humanities, plumbing… You remember that in your grandmother’s time, people used to stop formal learning when they were 22. Think of the fun they were missing out on!
Since you’re interested in what you want to study, you do well and learn quickly. Colleges now regularly draw in people of all ages rather than focusing so heavily on the 18-22 year old crowd. College enrollment stays high enough to relieve many of the financial pressures on universities, so they’re able to keep classes cheap and small.
Traditional degrees are a thing of the past, but if a subject really grabs you, you can earn various degrees of certificates by doing well in classes. You find a love for French literature and gradually earn your “Black Belt” over many years. You decide to get your certificate in Teaching Skills, and once that’s done, you begin to teach French literature.
Your class:
- A few teenagers who are going to backpack through France in the summer and want practice reading the language and understanding the culture.
- An elderly couple who have been gradually getting their Black Belt in French Literature over many years. Now retired, they keep themselves sharp by expanding their studies.
- A book publisher who is hoping to expand into the international market.
- An investment banker who longs to stretch different mental muscles.
- A plumber who loves Alexandre Dumas and wants to learn more.
Aca-Seltzer 