The Problem with Busmans' Holidays

Do you work more than 40 hours a week (I'm including school here)? I have been working two jobs, sometimes three, with some school thrown in since I was 16 years old. It's been the norm for so long, nearly ten years, that I was beginning to forget what it was like to have some time off. It seems I am not alone. Americans, according to several new studies, are the most overworked, under-vacationed, and miserable people out there, one of the few industrialized countries that still does not have mandatory vacation days (I can see those de-regulators and my boss out there already getting their panties in a bunch). But wouldn't that be nice, if you could take those days, nay, had to take those days off work and still get paid?

I am now beginning to cut my work hours down and already notice a difference, a lightening of my mental load, and man, it sure feels nice. How much nicer would it be to not feel guilty about it? We've got a lot of restructuring to do for ourselves here in the states. I wonder how long it will be before we make it ok for us to take care of ourselves (if we ever get there).