Vanishing Vacations

This article is one of many shorter pieces, pondering what would happen in hypothetical situations. These are inspired by an article called “Everybody Jump” by Randall Munroe.

What if we didn’t have breaks? Most people in society would feel overworked, constantly working with little to no time off. They would likely protest and request time away from work. If the government agreed and provided Paid Time Off (PTO), people would be happy, at least temporarily. However, PTO is limited. Most people only get about 11 days per year, while we currently have around 15 holidays. On top of that, many people like to take vacations, which also uses PTO, meaning time off could run out quickly.

Some people might even quit their jobs. This could lead to a collapse of society, because if no one works, nothing gets done. It might seem obvious, but think about it: if no one worked in construction, buildings wouldn’t be built or repaired. If no one prepared food, no meals would be made. Without work getting done, society simply couldn’t function.

Additionally, a new depression could occur- possibly even worse than the Great Depression of 1929. If people quit their jobs, how would they pay for anything? They wouldn’t. Without money circulating, the economy would grind to a halt. For example, if people couldn’t afford groceries, grocery stores couldn’t pay taxes or employees. If they couldn’t pay, stores would have to close. Suddenly, people wouldn’t have access to food, and many could starve.

If no one tried to go back to work, money could be permanently taken out of circulation. Even if people did attempt to return to their jobs, they might not succeed, since many businesses wouldn’t be able to pay them. If this doesn’t cause society to collapse entirely, we could end up back in a bartering system, trading goods and services instead of using money. This would set society back by several centuries.