In Praise Of Idleness

~2 mins read

https://harpers.org/archive/1932/10/in-praise-of-idleness/

It is possible for every kind of life to have the basic necessities of a happy and fulfilling life, enough space, food, sunlight, and freedom

Nature is balancing but humans are greedy

Since the agriculture started, he majority works much harder then they should and a minority collects the surplus. First they did it by force but inventing stories about the nobility of labor made it easier to keep a large number of exploited workers under control and requires less men-power to coerce them so its much less expensive

A certain amount of manual labor is necessary to our existence but its not one of the ends of human life. If it were, we should have to consider every laborer superior to Shakespeare.

Modern methods of production have given us the possibility of ease and security for all; we have chosen instead to have overwork for some and starvation for others.

In a world where no one is compelled to work more than four hours a day every person possessed of scientific curiosity will be able to indulge it, people will have time to learn their craft better and gain mastery

Above all, there will be happiness and joy of life, instead of frayed nerves, weariness, and dyspepsia.

Ordinary men and women, having the opportunity of a happy life, will become more kindly and less persecuting and less inclined to view others with suspicion

Good nature is, of all moral qualities, the one that the world needs most, and good nature is the result of ease and security, not of a life of arduous struggle.

We have continued to be as energetic as we were before there were machines. In this we have been foolish, but there is no reason to go on being foolish for ever.