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cardboard adolescent · 11-08-2010, 12:09 AM

I don't really believe there is such a thing as a "lazy bum." All you have to do is notice how active people are, how dead-set they are on doing something, even when they're doing nothing. Just look at how difficult it is for us to meditate--even if we can get our bodies to hold still, our minds continue to race. The reason that people are drawn to being lazy bums is because they think that's the ultimate, to just be able to sit around eating and drinking and napping. The reason people believe that's the ultimate is because that is the ultimate alternative to working, and the reason people don't like working is because it's competitive and stressful. Not because working requires physical exertion--just look at how many people do yoga or play sports without really needing to. Not because working makes you think--just look at us, having a thoughtful conversation when we could be sitting around doing nothing. The issue is that we have this distinction between work and play, that play is good and work is bad. And I think this fundamentally stems from the fact that work is competitive, rather than the natural self-expression which we believe it is as children.

So the other argument becomes, well, everyone would want to have certain jobs, and nobody would want to do crappy jobs. Again, I think the distinction between cool jobs and crappy jobs stems from the fact that work is competitive, that there are different ranks of pay, and hence different levels of social esteem. If all work was done for its own sake, and for the sake of sharing it, there wouldn't be any difference between a cool job and a crappy job. There wouldn't be a difference between a useful job and a useless job, every job would be useful in its own way. You wouldn't have everyone becoming a rebellious artist because there would be nothing to rebel against, and there wouldn't be a distinction between making art or making a product, since the function of all work would be the same--to share with others.

Oh, and even with the lazy bum scenario, ultimately those doing the hard work do get the benefit. Which is simply being able to share their hard work with others. That's the fundamental paradigm shift that has to take place, and it's really not as hard as you think. Put it into practice in your own life, that's always a good first step.

11-08-2010, 12:09 AM	#24 (permalink)
cardboard adolescent ;) Join Date: Nov 2005 Location: CA Posts: 3,503	I don't really believe there is such a thing as a "lazy bum." All you have to do is notice how active people are, how dead-set they are on doing something, even when they're doing nothing. Just look at how difficult it is for us to meditate--even if we can get our bodies to hold still, our minds continue to race. The reason that people are drawn to being lazy bums is because they think that's the ultimate, to just be able to sit around eating and drinking and napping. The reason people believe that's the ultimate is because that is the ultimate alternative to working, and the reason people don't like working is because it's competitive and stressful. Not because working requires physical exertion--just look at how many people do yoga or play sports without really needing to. Not because working makes you think--just look at us, having a thoughtful conversation when we could be sitting around doing nothing. The issue is that we have this distinction between work and play, that play is good and work is bad. And I think this fundamentally stems from the fact that work is competitive, rather than the natural self-expression which we believe it is as children. So the other argument becomes, well, everyone would want to have certain jobs, and nobody would want to do crappy jobs. Again, I think the distinction between cool jobs and crappy jobs stems from the fact that work is competitive, that there are different ranks of pay, and hence different levels of social esteem. If all work was done for its own sake, and for the sake of sharing it, there wouldn't be any difference between a cool job and a crappy job. There wouldn't be a difference between a useful job and a useless job, every job would be useful in its own way. You wouldn't have everyone becoming a rebellious artist because there would be nothing to rebel against, and there wouldn't be a distinction between making art or making a product, since the function of all work would be the same--to share with others. Oh, and even with the lazy bum scenario, ultimately those doing the hard work do get the benefit. Which is simply being able to share their hard work with others. That's the fundamental paradigm shift that has to take place, and it's really not as hard as you think. Put it into practice in your own life, that's always a good first step.