When studying varying societies, anthropologists...
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When studying varying societies, anthropologists judge the wealth of the people, not in so many dollars per hour of wages, because that will not translate well from one society to another. Instead, they judge on the basis of how many hours it takes a laborer to acquire the means to buy the necessities and luxuries of life. In other words, how many hours will the head of a family need to work in order to pay the rent or to own a home? How many hours of work are required to pay for the week's groceries? To clothe the family properly, according to cultural standards? And, how many hours of leisure does the family have to have fun and relax? By looking at that sort of standard, anthropologists come up with some surprising learnings! Some societies that have little in the way of material goods have far more leisure time than many in the so-called "first world" nations, and put in about half the time that we Americans spend in providing the basic necessities for our families.
-- Herrmann
-- Herrmann
