Xamuel.com

Idle hands, it’s said, are the Devil’s workshop. Let me say, though, if the Devil is still relying on human handwork, then he’s extremely behind on technology! Someone should tell him we’ve invented computers and robotics, and he can start shutting down some of those idle hand workshops and laying off the workers.

A Work Ethic is a belief that work is noble for its own sake. Taken to its extremes, the work ethic says it’s better just to dig holes and fill them back in, than to succumb to that ultimate evil, laziness. Long ago, there might have been some truth to this belief. In more primitive times, if large amounts of the population threw down their tools and just did whatever their hearts desired, there would’ve been serious consequences! But these days, very little work is actually necessary. The modern agriculture industry employs less than 3% of the workforce– and produces so much food that stores and restaurants can literally afford to throw it away!

Times have changed a lot since back when everyone lived on farms. Nowadays, so far from being morally obligated to swing the hammer and sickle around, you are morally obligated to enjoy leisure. Yes, that’s right, if you’re not enjoying life and having fun, your behavior is morally wrong! Our civilization has evolved technology so that our lives can be made easier. If we choose to lead hard lives, we’re refusing to cooperate with the overarching theme of technological progress and civilization itself!

I’m not advocating that all productive effort is bad. After all, I’m “laboring” to create the very article you’re reading. I’m just saying that the modern institution of the “job” is obsolete and its continued existence is weighing heavily against the continued progress of civilization. It’s our duty as world citizens to do whatever we can to further the dismantling of this institution– a dismantling which is already underway around the world.

What can you do personally? What’s the moral thing to do– What Would Xamuel Do (WWXD)? The answer is two-pronged. First, pursue personal pleasure with the utmost priority and urgency. Because you are a member of civilization, your pleasure contributes toward the overall happiness of all civilization, so when you make yourself happy, you’re actually furthering civilization itself. If civilization wanted us to be miserable, then it could’ve stopped progressing somewhere in the middle of World War II. Second, if you happen to be enslaved in a job that you don’t like, and if you really need the income that job gives you, then stop doing anything more than the bare minimum. It’s not like your boss wants you to overperform– if they did, they’d redefine what the “minimum” was. If you love your job, great, in that case it’s not really a job at all, it’s just a happy coincidence that you’re doing what you love and someone is giving you money for it. Otherwise, by making you less happy, your job is hindering the very fabric of civilization, and as such you are morally obligated to do the absolute, bare-bones minimum.

If you yourself are the head honcho, then I urge you: make the workplace pleasant for your employees; give them flexibility to put their creative expression into what they do; and, when a worker is unhappy with his or her job under you, then let them go. Don’t feel sorry for an employee who gets fired: feel sorry for the employee who is unhappy with their job. Don’t feel sorry for the employee who loses their giant suburban house and luxury car: save your pity for the employee who has those things but gets no pleasure out of fourty hours a week of their waking lives. I tell you, the former are better off than the latter by far!

The Work Ethic, which says you should always be laboring and laboring, is actually getting more obsolete every day. As technology increases, more and more jobs are replaced. Initially, only agricultural jobs were obsoleted. Now there are almost none left there. Then, industrial jobs were next in line for the robot squad. Fewer and fewer factory jobs remain, and this is true all over the world. The last holdout of the traditional “job” is the service sector. And, sure enough, technology is beginning to make itself felt even in service. Grocery store clerks are replaced by self checkout machines. Library clerks, too, get self-checkout machines as workmates: how much longer will their own jobs last? Myself, I teach right now (and I like teaching), but I know that not even teaching jobs are immune to technology.

Instead of the fruits of labor, let’s talk of the fruits of idleness. By staying home from work and relaxing, you bolster your health. Once you’ve de-stressed yourself enough and caught up on all the resting that the workplace denied you, you’ll start feeling restless. The liberty which accompanies idleness can be almost alarming when you’re used to spending most your waking life doing what other people tell you. But once you grow used to having free time, before you know, you’ll be writing novels, working out at the gym, raising a garden, hosting parties, starting garage bands, publishing blogs, making love. All these things can technically be thought of as “work”, but none are “jobs”. And in doing them, you’ll contribute far more to society than you ever would from a cubicle or phone center.

The Work Ethic is obsolete. It’s time that we replace it with The Leisure Ethic. Haven’t you heard– salaried hands are the new Devil’s workshop!

FURTHER READING

Basic Income and Why It Should Be Implemented
Hedonism: The Pursuit of Happiness
How to Contribute to Society