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?
As a young person, I feel as if all my friends are in a rush to experience life in their free time as if the coming weekend is their last. They go all out, get drunk, do drugs, have sex, and spend an unstable amount of money, then when it’s all over its back to the jobs they hate where they will spend all their time thinking about how they would rather be doing something else thus continuing the boom and bust cycle of western social life.
If we had more free time and less resentment towards our jobs I assume most people would choose to live a more sustainable lifestyle, which would hopefully drastically change how our communities look and function.