I’ve never heard of this guy. But having read his work, I can say with absolute certainty that he has never done physical labor in his life; he views physical work as the worst punishment imaginable. I don’t know—perhaps he is a highly revered and famous figure—but he hasn’t the faintest clue about the mindset of a working man. He describes the psychology of a slave, not a worker.
I have interacted with hundreds—if not thousands—of workers throughout my life. I can state unequivocally that what he writes is simply untrue! I have seen countless workers who derive genuine pleasure from their jobs; in fact, I’d go even further and say that they live for their work. And his assumption that, given an abundance of free time, they would suddenly start painting pictures or writing poetry just makes me smile! A working man feels lost without his work. And when a working man feels lost without work, he doesn’t head off to the theater or the opera; he drinks vodka. To draw a worker toward art, science, or a mind-expanding hobby, he requires a foundation of systematic knowledge—the kind that enables him to survey the full range of options and select the one that best suits his personal tastes. As for his anarchic notion of abolishing universities—I consider it utterly utopian.
However, I do partially agree with his core premise. And this is precisely the point—the one you and our Chinese comrade seem to miss—that I am constantly trying to articulate: a person who works more than eight hours a day will very quickly devolve into a Neanderthal, regardless of how much money they earn. Their intellect dulls; they lose the capacity for independent thought because they simply have no time to think—life rushes past them like a hurricane. And that is exactly what the capitalist wants: a herd of sheep marching in lockstep toward the “bright future” of capitalism.
last yeah I think where it showed that number of religious people is about the same as ever.
Perhaps things remain the same today; however, state propaganda has partially injected this ideological sludge into the school curriculum—specifically the works of Ilyin, for instance, who reveres only God and the Tsar. Their aim is to construct an ideology in the vein of Neo-monarchism.
Yeah, Russell is the quintessential British liberal, hence the disdain for the working class in all his work. But he does get at the irrationality of capitalism here where the goal is simply to maximize profit with no regard for anything else. I also very much agree with your point that overwork turns people into zombies.
My view is that required work should be minimized as much as possible, and people should have the ability to choose how they spend their time.
Also agree that’s precisely how religion is being used right now, hopefully that fails.
I’ve never heard of this guy. But having read his work, I can say with absolute certainty that he has never done physical labor in his life; he views physical work as the worst punishment imaginable. I don’t know—perhaps he is a highly revered and famous figure—but he hasn’t the faintest clue about the mindset of a working man. He describes the psychology of a slave, not a worker.
I have interacted with hundreds—if not thousands—of workers throughout my life. I can state unequivocally that what he writes is simply untrue! I have seen countless workers who derive genuine pleasure from their jobs; in fact, I’d go even further and say that they live for their work. And his assumption that, given an abundance of free time, they would suddenly start painting pictures or writing poetry just makes me smile! A working man feels lost without his work. And when a working man feels lost without work, he doesn’t head off to the theater or the opera; he drinks vodka. To draw a worker toward art, science, or a mind-expanding hobby, he requires a foundation of systematic knowledge—the kind that enables him to survey the full range of options and select the one that best suits his personal tastes. As for his anarchic notion of abolishing universities—I consider it utterly utopian.
However, I do partially agree with his core premise. And this is precisely the point—the one you and our Chinese comrade seem to miss—that I am constantly trying to articulate: a person who works more than eight hours a day will very quickly devolve into a Neanderthal, regardless of how much money they earn. Their intellect dulls; they lose the capacity for independent thought because they simply have no time to think—life rushes past them like a hurricane. And that is exactly what the capitalist wants: a herd of sheep marching in lockstep toward the “bright future” of capitalism.
Perhaps things remain the same today; however, state propaganda has partially injected this ideological sludge into the school curriculum—specifically the works of Ilyin, for instance, who reveres only God and the Tsar. Their aim is to construct an ideology in the vein of Neo-monarchism.
Yeah, Russell is the quintessential British liberal, hence the disdain for the working class in all his work. But he does get at the irrationality of capitalism here where the goal is simply to maximize profit with no regard for anything else. I also very much agree with your point that overwork turns people into zombies.
My view is that required work should be minimized as much as possible, and people should have the ability to choose how they spend their time.
Also agree that’s precisely how religion is being used right now, hopefully that fails.