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Articles like this remind me of Bertrand Russell's [In praise of idleness](http://www.zpub.com/notes/idle.html http://www.zpub.com/notes/idle.html): "I want to

Articles like this remind me of Bertrand Russell's [In praise of idleness](http://www.zpub.com/notes/idle.html http://www.zpub.com/notes/idle.html): "I want to say, in all seriousness, that a great deal of harm is being done in the modern world by belief in the virtuousness of work, and that the road to happiness and prosperity lies in an organized diminution of work."

crusso 14y ago
I love Bertrand Russell. Such brilliant quotes. I especially love his thoughts on religion. Unfortunately, he was no futurist. His view of the manual laborer doing all the work vs the bosses telling the worker what to do was hopelessly mired in the past and plagued with his thinking that the industrial revolution's growing pains were permanent or even worsening. Given that Peter Drucker was around and writing at the same time, it's not like the idea that we were heading somewhere better as a society was unknowable. This passage in the link you provided stood out to me: The small surplus above bare necessaries was not left to those who produced it, but was appropriated by warriors and priests. In times of famine there was no surplus; the warriors and priests, however, still secured as much as at other times, with the result that many of the workers died of hunger. These days, our warrior/priest caste is actually the government and the elite corporatists that collude with it. Economy goes up, government spending goes up. Economy goes down, government spending goes up... strange that.
- heretohelp 14y ago
  Funny you mention that you love Bertrand Russell since he was a massive fan of idleness and against the cult of overwork.
  - crusso 14y ago
    Your mistake would be in assuming that I would commit the fallacy of ad hominem, I guess. Religion was pretty well-trodden ground in his time and his thoughts on it were really insightful. The future of the knowledge-based economic world didn't seem to be his forte. Regardless, the guy put some thought into his writings that's worth respecting and he certainly knew how to craft a phrase that would be quotable for centuries to come.
- lfborjas 14y ago
  Interesting, does this essay convey to you that the manual labourer is doomed and Russell's being a pessimist? I got quite the contrary from it (advocating some sort of socialist state), on par with wilde's [the soul of man under socialism](http://www.marxists.org/reference/archive/wilde-oscar/soul-man/index.htm http://www.marxists.org/reference/archive/wilde-oscar/soul-m...) Or are you referring to other writings by Russell? I have to confess that besides this essay and "proposed roads to freedom" I've read little of his own stances.

crusso 14y ago

I love Bertrand Russell. Such brilliant quotes. I especially love his thoughts on religion. Unfortunately, he was no futurist. His view of the manual laborer doing all the work vs the bosses telling the worker what to do was hopelessly mired in the past and plagued with his thinking that the industrial revolution's growing pains were permanent or even worsening. Given that Peter Drucker was around and writing at the same time, it's not like the idea that we were heading somewhere better as a society was unknowable. This passage in the link you provided stood out to me: The small surplus above bare necessaries was not left to those who produced it, but was appropriated by warriors and priests. In times of famine there was no surplus; the warriors and priests, however, still secured as much as at other times, with the result that many of the workers died of hunger. These days, our warrior/priest caste is actually the government and the elite corporatists that collude with it. Economy goes up, government spending goes up. Economy goes down, government spending goes up... strange that.

heretohelp 14y ago
Funny you mention that you love Bertrand Russell since he was a massive fan of idleness and against the cult of overwork.
- crusso 14y ago
  Your mistake would be in assuming that I would commit the fallacy of ad hominem, I guess. Religion was pretty well-trodden ground in his time and his thoughts on it were really insightful. The future of the knowledge-based economic world didn't seem to be his forte. Regardless, the guy put some thought into his writings that's worth respecting and he certainly knew how to craft a phrase that would be quotable for centuries to come.
lfborjas 14y ago
Interesting, does this essay convey to you that the manual labourer is doomed and Russell's being a pessimist? I got quite the contrary from it (advocating some sort of socialist state), on par with wilde's [the soul of man under socialism](http://www.marxists.org/reference/archive/wilde-oscar/soul-man/index.htm http://www.marxists.org/reference/archive/wilde-oscar/soul-m...) Or are you referring to other writings by Russell? I have to confess that besides this essay and "proposed roads to freedom" I've read little of his own stances.