The hard worker is no wretch (continuing thoughts for presentation)

The individual who is idle, is a revolutionary. In the capitalist society in which we live - free enterprise- it is rare to find anybody set on simply being idle in their life. To say that the hard worker is a wretch however, I disagree with, and always will. I shall always favour the benefits of using ones mind, body and spirit to give back to society, and thus to oneself. For how else are we to earn money? And if we must earn money, we may as well strive to do so in a career in which we can thrive, develop and more importantly, enjoy. As Ollie claimed in his note in response to Andre's second post, to become a society orientated around the praise and continuous practice of idleness, would be to slit our own throats and destroy the foundation upon which our lives rest. It is important to understand the necessity of work, and of earning a living through a means we enjoy, so as to get the most out of life. It is also necessary to do so to appreciate the joy that being idle now and again can give. As I have said before, to appreciate one, is to understand and therefore appreciate the other.

“To be lazy means to be free, and not simply choosing between McDonald’s and Burger King or between a Volvo and a Saab. It means being free to live the life that we want to live, free of bosses, wages, commuting, consuming, debts. Being idle means having a good time, pleasure and joy. There’s a revolution that is brewing, and the wonderful thing is that you have to do absolutely nothing to take part.” - Tom Hodgkinson

While this seems ideal, it also seems rather stupid. If everyone were, one day, to fling their arms to the sky in protest, shout "Mercy hallelujah I am free" and never do a single moments work for the rest of their days, would mean the collapse of a highly established extremely accomplished and culturally rich society. Pockets of thinking would explode across the world, and situations depicted as in 'The Road' by Cormac McCarthy. surely would come to pass. Life would become a miserable disaster. As thinking creatures, grown and flourished through time, we need stability and we need structure. We need rules to obey, and rules to break. Without them there would be nothing to run from, and nothing to run to....what would be the point in this?

"Take your hour of daily boredom, doing nothing, looking out of the window or up at the ceiling. It’s your hour of air, like the hour that is conceded to those in prison. Teach your children about it. Explain to them that doing nothing, not having anyone to tell you what to do is important."

Why be bored when being idle? Why not use this time to simply reflect, spend time with a friend; simply sit and be with them and enjoy their company in silence. Instead of doing work, work that MUST be done, sit and read through an old journal, or some old letters or a book you haven't looked at since you were a child...idleness doesn't necessarily equals boredom in my eyes. Boredom is surely a negative thing, and encourages restlessness.... Restlessness can quickly become irritation, perhaps so much so that, in order to remove this uncomfortable feeling, it in turn forces us to do the 'work' we chose to avoid in the first place. If we used our idle time idling on something that interests us, I see no reason to be bored...

"Idleness is the father and mother of all the best ideas. It should be taught at school, like an hour of meditation. We are inside a mechanism that stops us from thinking. A moving walkway from the cradle to the grave.
Stop! Do it now: do nothing."

I do find this point extremely refreshing. While I find it a little extreme to label idleness 'the mother of all the best ideas' I can go along with the fact that it is, when appropriate, very good for the soul. We live in such a fast paced society, orientated around the prospect of making money, living fast and fitting in as much as possible, that it is necessary, (as much as work is necessary) to put time aside to relax and simply be. My main quibble with alot of the academic works I have researched and read on the topic of idleness however, is the lack of any 'middle ground' or 'balance.' I have yet to find a thinker or a philosopher that explores this and furthermore praises the hard work of the everyday man who enjoys living in a capitalist society, (rather a capitalist than a communist)and in turn has the right to be idle, as he appreciates the importance of earning a decent and honest living, and therefore understands that idleness as a privilege......

-A side note for the presentation I also maintain my opinion on the differences between idleness and laziness. While Hodgkinson uses both words in the same breath of the same context, I see them as two very different things. While both practicing the art of 'doing nothing' as I mentioned in an earlier post, one 'does nothing' with the understanding that their doing so is a great privilege, while the other does not. It is this that I will be exploring in our presentation. I will pick five main points that embody the mind of the lazy individual, and through the stark contrast to the idle person, will therefore help to highlight the benefits of thinking as the latter. (I will post a rough draft on a new blog shortly.) Emma will also write a section on 'idleness' and again, include five points in a detailed monologue, and through highlighting the good in the idle person, in turn highlight the negative results to the human coniditon as a result of being lazy.