A lot of western communities are designed to stimulate consumerism. A lot of things to do in your free time revolve around buying stuff or drinking (alcohol). Even eating in your free time costs money, sometimes a lot of money even.
I live in a city that claims to have the most bars, cafés, restaurants etc. in the world. A lot of free time here revolves around drinking. I also sit down at a café often.
Recently a new park opened close to where I live. When it was flaming hot outside I went to spent my evenings there at some water pools and had diner there. A lot of people around me were just chilling, chatting and playing games. It reminded me of covid, when everything was closed (bars and shops). Everyone in the city was just outside, vibing in parks, playgrounds and similar places.
It made me wonder how a communist society would effect free time. A lot of lesser capitalistic, more collectivist societies already seem to focus on different ways to spend free time.
What do you guys think about this? Does anyone have some interesting theory to read regarding this topic?
Very sad that it took a rampaging virus for the capitalist nations’ citizens to escape the machine (and for a month, at that).
I also have a HUGE gripe for fast food. I myself have of course indulged (and still do) and am in no way shaming anyone who does as well, all I’m saying is that the only reason that shitty cheap stuff exists and is so damn profitable is that we are so overworked and used to consumerism. The last thing I want to do coming home from a 9 hour shift is cook a healthy meal that takes more than 30 minutes. To McDonald’s or the bar we go, I guess. I’ve even spent money on a fake ID in the past. What a world.
Sadly I don’t have any theory to point you to, but my gut tells me a communist society would have thousands of times higher quality free time than capitalist ones.
Edit: just realized alot of what I said was said in droves in the comments in much higher quality. I’ll leave this here though, lol.