Government-backed vacation time for American workers? Courtney E. Martin, writing for The American Prospect, makes the case for Big Brother taking a cue from Big 'Bluto' Blutarsky.

Martin suggests a ‘vacation irrationality’ among American workplaces: driven by the constant need for success, they actually push their workers to be less productive by starving their R&R time.

Is this a cause to rally behind? And how can it be crafted to help all types of workers—from day laborers to cubicle warriors?

Read selections of Martin’s piece below, or read the full article here.

Last year, 25 percent of American workers got no paid vacation at all, while 43 percent didn't even take a solid week off. A third fewer American families take vacations together today than they did in 1970. American workers receive the least vacation time among wealthy industrial nations. And it is no thanks to the U.S. government --127 other countries in the world have a vacation law. We -- the crackberry denizens and Protestant ethic superstars -- do not.

A growing movement of nonprofits, citizen advocacy groups, and trade associations is trying to change all that. Take Back Your Time, a national organization with over 10,000 members, has declared getting a federal vacation law that guarantees Americans at least three week paid vacation a top priority issue in 2007. They are joined by Joe Robinson, author of the 2003 book Work to Live and a work/life balance coach, and the Adventure Travel Trade Association, among others.

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We don't get much time at home, and at work, we feel significantly unsupported. In the latest Pew Research Center survey on work, a near majority of workers (45 percent) now says benefits are worse than they had been 20 or 30 years ago. This includes a gamut of policies -- health care, paternity leave, flextime -- all of which America is pathetically behind other industrialized countries in legislating. There has certainly been a growing conversation about these issues, thanks to the mothers' movement led by groups like MomsRising, but legislated vacation time is often last on the list of demands. (Not so surprising when you consider how difficult it is for most mothers to believe they deserve a rest.)

Not only does less vacation time mean we have less time to develop our most critical and lasting relationships with family members and friends, but our physical health is in jeopardy when we refuse to unchain ourselves from the cubicle. Vacations cut down on stress, which any medical expert will tell you is at the center of so many of America's most pernicious health crises. Two researchers at the State University of New York at Oswego showed that an annual vacation can cut the risk of death from heart disease in women by 50 percent and in men by 32 percent. Taking time out, exploring new horizons, getting away from your desk and moving around, reconnecting with close friends and family are all safeguards against burnout and depression. But this kind of rejuvenation takes time -- two weeks, most studies indicate. The average vacation in the United States is now only a long weekend, which just isn't long enough.

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But it's not all about self control; it's also about government control. Why does the government need to get involved? Because in this cutthroat economic environment, vacation -- like parental leave -- goes the way of the wimp. Even if workers are employed by companies that guarantee vacation time, many of them are afraid to take advantage because they might be seen as slackers. A culture of self-sacrifice has cropped up in so many careers, leaving those who take their full two weeks looking uncommitted and ineffective.