Re: the Salon article, interesting about the 1848 reduction in work hours from 12? to 10, then to 8. Contrasting that with modern work days in Europe esp those countries that have a big break around lunch. They probably end up also working 8-9 hours a day (napping at home since everything is closed). Its tempting to equate the differently structured work day with the current economic status of the PIGS countries (read: Bad).