Jacob referenced this essay in a recent blog post on idleness. I find it interesting for other reasons. It ties in to many recent thread topics like semi-ERE, 1%, objections to ERE, and a few others. It was also written in 1932, and has some parallels to our current economic climate. So in case you missed it...
http://www.zpub.com/notes/idle.html
Bertrand Russell's "In Praise of Idleness"
Interesting read. This is similar to Keynes arguying that work day should eventually go down to 3-4 hours per day due to increased efficiency. I wonder who read whom. Interestingly enough this is also the topic of the book: How much is Enough? But the authors argue, that blind pursuit of growth puts the good life (and short work week) out of reach with the rich working more than needed and the poor not enough.
Thanks for that reference. Yes, it is applicable to today, because it was written during a similar period in history.
Funny, I think most white collar workers could probably do their 8-hour job in only about 4 hours per day most days.
Somebody else wrote in a different thread that US schools were "reformed" around 1900 to train people to work long days on the job. Before that, laborers would just work enough to buy what they needed and then leave for the day. Honestly, that seems more natural to me.
But we have trouble because we are creatures of habit and peer pressure. So if we are successful workers, we are encouraged to do more and more of it until it no longer makes any sense. This is why its so important to step back and really think about what we really want out of life -- and understand that it takes conscious thought and decision-making to create the habits that we want to have and not the ones we just fall in to.
Funny, I think most white collar workers could probably do their 8-hour job in only about 4 hours per day most days.
Somebody else wrote in a different thread that US schools were "reformed" around 1900 to train people to work long days on the job. Before that, laborers would just work enough to buy what they needed and then leave for the day. Honestly, that seems more natural to me.
But we have trouble because we are creatures of habit and peer pressure. So if we are successful workers, we are encouraged to do more and more of it until it no longer makes any sense. This is why its so important to step back and really think about what we really want out of life -- and understand that it takes conscious thought and decision-making to create the habits that we want to have and not the ones we just fall in to.
Keyne's 1930 article Karim mentioned is here: http://www.econ.yale.edu/smith/econ116a/keynes1.pdf
And there is an interesting video by the author of 'How much is enough' http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yeWz5Cg_BD4 which reviews it
And there is an interesting video by the author of 'How much is enough' http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yeWz5Cg_BD4 which reviews it
Thanks jennypenny! Russell is always good for another reading.
It made me think of the classic "The Right to Be Lazy":
http://www.swaraj.org/multiversity/lafarge_lazy.htm
If only they could see today's "leisure industry"
It made me think of the classic "The Right to Be Lazy":
http://www.swaraj.org/multiversity/lafarge_lazy.htm
If only they could see today's "leisure industry"