What's so wrong with being lazy? In Praise of Idleness by Bertrand Russell & How to Be Idle: A Loafer's Manifesto by Tom Hodgkinson
Class Discussion Questions
Do you agree with Russell that “far too much work is being done in the world”
In a world where people only worked 4 hours a day, what would you do with your 4 hours of extra free time? Would you know how to use that extra time? (Russell suspects some people won’t.) Would you rather work 8 hours?
“If the ordinary wage-earner worked four hours a day, there would be enough for everybody, and no unemployment - assuming a certain very moderate amount of sensible organization.”- How much planning would it take, and how much control would the government have to take? Would it necessarily result in a totalitarian government?
Does Russell's definition of work still apply today? If not, how does his idea hold up?
Is working a moral duty?
If someone is making a living from art, say, should they, in Russell's world order, still work at the factory for four hours a day? Aren't we then taking away people's happiness?
Is it possible to define what a standard of living should be in a society? Who gets to make that decision? And what standard of living is the minimum for you?
In Russell’s world, what would happen to innovation?
Despite all the economic arguments you might throw at him - do you find Russell's vision alluring?
Questions Students Brought to Class:
Tom H. is writing a book about ethics, but I am not sure what his ethical framework is. He says it's not hedonism, but then he seems to say that it is informed by hedonism. What do you all think?
Is being idle, in the romantic, Victorian sense that Hodgkinson tends to mean it, the only way to act against The System which demands productivity from us? (i.e. are there ways to rebel against productivity culture that aren't literally doing nothing)
Are there ways to work, to toil even, that might constitute rebellion against productivity?
I felt like both TH and BR defined 'work' in as a 'paying job within the context of capitalism'. How do you feel about this definition? Does this fit with how you generally use the term 'work'?
I'm interested in some of the origins of how we think about work/play. What is your familiarity with some of the older things he references, like the Bible or other ancient sources?
What does it mean that we “need to be more like God: work for six days and rest for eternity?”
What did the group think about when the author said “we need to be more like God: work for six days and rest for eternity”?
