Turning a Phrase

Since humans ran out of new new kinds of animals and foods to domesticate thousands of years ago, we can study almost any edible plant or farm animal as a microcosm of human history.

This occurred to me when a couple of readers responded to a phrase I used the other day — “industrial clock.” I was talking about how ingrained our work schedules become so we cannot escape the rhythms of the 40-hour week even after we stop going into the office.

What I was referring to with that term was the origin of the coffee break, which was developed by industrialist tycoons as a way to squeeze more productivity out of workers. I first encountered that historical curiosity when I was reviewing a book on the history of sugar many decades ago.

Like many other crops, sugar started out as a luxury for the rich and powerful but has gradually filtered down to be one of the many excessive burdens of the poor and powerless.

Over 100,000 people have died of diabetes in the U.S. each of the past two years — disproportionately from minority and poor communities.

Taking sugar with coffee or tea became habitual for the poorer classes during the industry revolution. But by now, virtually everyone goes through at least some phase of sugar addiction. It’s endemic.

And of course there are other risk factors for diabetes — smoking and obesity among them — so my analysis should only be taken with a grain of (pick your substance).

But wars have been fought and empires built on control of sugar or tea or coffee or bananas and every other foodstuff; that much is indisputable.

So that is the story of my use of the term “industrial clock.” 

I first published a version of this essay in early 2022. Since then it has occurred to me that working remotely has changed the industrial clock for many of us, hasn’t it?

LINKS:

• Failed GOP candidate arrested on suspicion of orchestrating shootings at homes of Democrats in New Mexico, police say (CNN)

• Revealed: Who visited the Trump White House before Jan. 6 (Politico)

• What the Jan. 6 probe found out about social media, but didn’t report (WP)

• Schumer, McCarthy working relationship off to rocky start (The Hill)

• McCarthy and McConnell, seen as polar opposites, must lead a fractious GOP (WP)

• The Supreme Court Justices Do Not Seem to Be Getting Along (Atlantic)

• Signs the White House is beginning to shift documents strategy (CNN)

• The White House pushed back on Republican outrage over the discovery of classified documents at President Joe Biden’s residence and former office, calling the indignation from GOP lawmakers “shamelessly hypocritical.” The GOP-led House Oversight Committee is investigating the president over the documents, but has no plans to probe Donald Trump's cache of government files. [HuffPost]

• Justice Department Considered but Rejected Role in Biden Documents Search (WSJ)

• The U.S. has an overclassification problem, says one former special counsel (NPR)

• Ukraine’s interior minister among at least 14 killed in helicopter crash outside Kyiv (NBC)

• Ukraine came a step closer to winning the fleet of modern battle tanksit hopes could turn the course of the war against Russia, after the West's big holdout Germany said this would be the first item on its new defense minister's agenda. (Reuters)

• Ukrainian civilians vanish and languish in Russian-run jails (AP)

• CIA director secretly met with Zelenskyy before invasion to reveal Russian plot to kill him as he pushed back on US intelligence, book says (Business Insider)

• Ukraine War: Zelensky adviser resigns over Dnipro remarks (BBC)

• China’s Shrinking Population Poses Problem for Economic Growth (WSJ)

• China’s Population Falls, Heralding a Demographic Crisis (NYT)

• Taiwan’s Outlying Islands Are at Risk (FP)

• Expert’s warning to US Navy on China: Bigger fleet almost always wins (CNN)

• Greta Thunberg released after brief detention at German mine protest, police say (Reuters)

• Renewed Armenia-Azerbaijan Conflict Underlines Russia’s Waning Influence (NYT)

• Killing of Former Afghanistan Lawmaker Highlights Plight of Women Under Taliban (WSJ)

• Twitter ‘verified’ check marks bought by Taliban appear to have been removed (Guardian)

• Elon Musk and Tesla are set to go to trial in San Francisco today in a case where the company's shareholders claim they were defrauded by Musk's 2018 statement that funding was "secured" to take the electric car maker private. (Reuters)

• This 22-year-old is trying to save us from ChatGPT before it changes writing forever (NPR)

• Neanderthals: the oldest art in the world wasn’t made by Homo sapiens (The Conversation)

• ‘Extinction crisis’ of sharks and rays to have devastating effect on other species, study finds (Guardian)

• How Modern Agriculture Turned a Wild Plant Into a Problematic Weed (SciTechDaily)

• World War II structure falls 200 feet from cliff onto San Francisco beach (SF Gate)

• Social isolation linked to an increased risk of dementia, new study finds (NPR)

• Debt-Ridden 4th-Grader Shouldn’t Have Recklessly Invested In Lunch (The Onion)