“But we don’t need a secret police to turn us into atomized, isolated souls. All it takes is for us to stand by while unbridled capitalism rips apart the temporal preserves that used to let us cultivate the seeds of civil society and nurture the sadly fragile shoots of affection, affinity, and solidarity.”

A roaring end to a lament on the fragmentation of work hours and as such also of society as it took place in America.

Germany still resists this trend by for instance not allowing shops to open on Sundays. I found this tremendously annoying, but I’m now starting to see the use and charm of quiet Sundays. (And now that I have kids, I manage to buy our groceries on Saturday.)

https://www.theatlantic.com/magazine/archive/2019/11/why-dont-i-see-you-anymore/598336/