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Monday, November 24, 2014

The father of invention



They say necessity is the mother of invention. I say laziness is the father. It's laziness that has driven advancement. We live in a modern world because we are too lazy run down deer with a spear and dig roots out of the ground with our hands.

So how come laziness has gotten such a bad rap? How did being a hard worker become such a virtue? We know that doing something the hard way is supposed to be kinda stupid. Seems like a mixed message to me. No wonder workers are stressed and bit crazy these days.

I used to be a firefighter. When we weren't all that busy, it was good thing. Sure, we'd do things like safety inspections and fire education for the kids. We'd train and maintain our equipment, but that wasn't really working hard. Half the time I could do that part of the job with a mug of coffee in hand.

It was horribly bad when I was working hard. Buildings were on fire. People's lives were at risk. The city's tax base was going up in smoke. Equipment was being damaged and worn out. Firefighters were getting injured. You really don't want to see firefighters earning their pay.

Some years back an efficiency expert was doing a study at the local mill. The machines were humming along and the workers were pretty much just hanging around. The expert thought there were way too many people with nothing to do. When he wasn't looking someone threw a spanner into the works. The machine went down and then everyone jumped up and was very busy. The expert was happy to see everyone so busy. What an idiot. When the workers were busy the company wasn't putting out any product.

Of course, those mill jobs are now gone. It didn't matter how hard everyone worked as they couldn't work for less than a living wage. Operations got moved to countries with much lower wages. The workers in those countries have a strong work ethic because if they don't work they'll starve.

Those jobs are doomed too. Workers have to make enough money to eat. They will be replaced with machines that don't eat or sleep. So where's the virtue in hard work? It won't stop the machines from taking their jobs either.

There is going to be a lot of people with nothing to do. Too bad the system isn't set up for them to be lazy. If they were paid a living wage to stay home they could buy the goods and services the machines are providing. Time could be spent in pursuit of art, literature, music, scientific research and philosophy.

The alternative is for them to take on some hard work: revolution, destroying the machines, and hanging the ownership class from lampposts. Work work work.

So maybe the whole work ethic is not so much about work as it is about control. People with time on their hands think too much. They say they want us to be smart: work smarter, not harder! That doesn't mean they want us doing a really smart thing for 5 minutes then let us go home. The human race has been smart enough to eliminate much of the drudgery of existence. Yet the owners and rulers still want to see us earn our bread by the sweat of our brow.


Isn't it time that laziness gets the respect it deserves?


-Sixbears


17 comments:

  1. you are too young to remember but when i was in school the genius of modern man was touted and we were told there would be a shorter workweek in a clean environment and culture for all of the people. heaven on earth. everyone smiling with perfect teeth.
    told the perfect student teacher ratio was 4 or 5 to one and we would reach it.
    all sorts of lovely tales.
    were told that man would conquer the weather! ha!
    well, you see where we are.

    deb h.

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    1. . . . but maybe that's where we should have been?

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    2. We got the shorter work week... they just failed to mention that it came with a much smaller wage.

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  2. Humans are just a blip on the radar of time.

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    1. I'd like a few more blips before we go please.

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  3. Forest jobs in Washington are gone, most of the Mills are gone! The biggest beer place went down and tens of thousands of men and few women lost living wage jobs, to be replaced by jobs that require a bachelors or masters degree far from the cities where these mills and beer operating plants once stood..Progress I think not, I have never met a factory worker or mill person and a beer plant person or for that matter over in Camas Washington people who still work on that paper mill who don't really work their asses off..Few jobs but lots of money for the owners..our world has gone topsy turvey indeed..Firefighters here had to lobby and cry foul when two fire stations were to close and leave many without firefighters to help them out and save their lives and homes and apts..Gone is the day that anyh person can count on a job for any length of time..An article in our local newspaper stated most banks would get rid of tellers soon, we don't own a cell phone and I don't drive any car, to cash a check one is suppose to get a cell phone, I think not..For all the conveniences the modern world has gotten I think human beings have suffered a lot of shit more than the convenience..just saying..Happy Turkey day, we baked, roasted and cooked many turkey dinners and hams for the homeless, hungry and unemployed, we are going to the beach for food from the sea and taking a break from volunteering..friends since childhood and lots of fun, no cell phones aloud, no this and that, playing board games, walking and talking and enjoying the friendships..ciao!!!!!!!!!!!!!

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    1. The good blue collar jobs are mostly gone. We have to find ways of beating the system.

      Happy Thanksgiving to you and yours!

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  4. yes there is more of less work in these modern times, and soon robots will do all the labors done

    so will the humans be eliminated so the robots could enjoy more liesure time?

    progress?????

    Wildflower

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  5. What was that old saying - GIVE A LAZY MAN THE JOB AND HE WILL FIND THE EASIEST WAY TO GET THE JOB ACCOMPLISHED WITH THE LEAST AMOUNT OF EFFORT. :^)

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    1. See, I could have done the post in just one sentence. Guess I'm not as lazy as I thought.

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  6. Mechanization is one reason that the NWO wants to kill most of us off.

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  7. A wrench, at least in Briton.

    Wade in NW Florida

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