Work does not make you free

Or: why I think “laziness” is a good thing, via AlterNet‘s Time to Act by Paul Loeb:

The increase of work hours complements a more general politics of the whip. Whatever our jobs, most of us now work harder than we used to, do more in less time, and worry more about being downsized. This is true whether we’re on a factory assembly line, writing code for a software company desperately struggling to survive, or teaching the kids of the poor in an underfunded school. If we’re going to have a decent future, and not become “losers” in an increasingly divided economy, we’re told that we need to become wheeling and dealing self-promoters constantly selling ourselves to survive. Meanwhile, we spend more hours driving to and from our jobs, as urban sprawl, escalating housing prices, and lack of decent public transit options raise the stress of our commutes. [more…

This is why I live here, on an Island, and why my kids learn at home and beyond, but not in a factory school. Work ethic, exercised without reflection, is internalized fascism. I really mean that. Kill your internal fascist daily — you’ll live better. Then find something fun to do and lose yourself and find yourself and lose yourself and find yourself again. Meander. It’s restorative. To hell with the straight line.