The term "work smarter ... not harder" originated in the 1930's. Allen F. Morgenstern, an industrial engineer, the creator of the work simplification program, coined the term. The program's intent was to increase the ability of people to produce more with less effort.
This was later picked up by the cartoon character Scrooge McDuck, created in 1947 by Carl Banks. Scrooge McDuck always told his three nephews, Hewey, Dewey, and Louis, "Work smarter than the smarties and tougher than the toughies."
Scrooge McDuck!! Who knew?
Now we get a proto-fascist declaring that the best way forward is to regress to the 19th century. Good for him.
It's also worth noting that W. Edwards Deming (a hero), post WWII, took this seriously. Here's one of his principles:
Eliminate slogans, exhortations, and targets for the work force asking for zero defects and new levels of productivity. Such exhortations only create adversarial relationships, as the bulk of the causes of low quality and low productivity belong to the system and thus lie beyond the power of the work force.
Eliminate work standards (quotas) on the factory floor. Substitute with leadership.
Eliminate management by objective. Eliminate management by numbers and numerical goals. Instead substitute with leadership.
Does anyone seriously believe:
1 - that assembly workers have 'pride' of work such that they're driven to create more value by working 12 hours a day 6 days a week? Really?
2 - that 'creative' workers will innovate ever more vigorously if they're shackled to their seats at the table for that long? Really?
When would either have any time to spend their wages? Really? Didn't the middle class come into existence after the end of compulsory labor, and the protections of unions? And the 40 hour work week? No market, no profit. Yes, yes, that's what happened. OTOH, if you're a slave wages exporter, then you've no choice but to continue to grind labor. After all, physical capital has to be paid for (and the cost is the same for everybody). Materials have to be paid for (ditto). So where does the profit come from? Squeezing the worker. It's no coincidence that these wage slave producers exist in totalitarian states. It's also no coincidence that they all have to export to high wage states. To the extent that Red states co-opt Blue states (whether state or State), the market seen by wage slave producers contracts. It's in their best interest to protect their TAM. But, as we can see, they're just too stupid to figure it out.
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