Opinion | Are French People Just Lazy?
Mr. Lafargue has never explained how richly we should use our leisure time. (Even his father-in-law envisioned a future where we would “hunt in the morning, fish in the afternoon, raise cattle at night, criticize after dinner, as I thought.”) Recounted, when Mr. Lafargue, at the age of 69, committed suicide in 1911, his reasons were in line with his philosophy: “I am killing myself before a cruel old age, which gradually deprives me of my past. joy and pleasure of life.”
A century later, France produced yet another advocate for job avoidance, the influential theorist Frédéric Lordon. In his 2010 book “Capitalisme, désir et servitude” (more sensational English title “Willing Slaves of Capital”), he argues that today’s employers, instead of responding workers protest by force, show friendship instead. . They are so friendly, Lordon warns, that we are willing to break their promise that work is an “instant source of joy”.
Lordon led the “wake of the night” protests in 2016, when protesters occupied public places across France to protest labor reforms introduced by the Socialist government. then suggested. One of their requirements is to create a common basic income. In effect, this will subsidize laziness – or more precisely a certain kind of laziness. When la paresse is a common word for laziness in French, so too l’oisivete. Derived from Latin ear canalit means calm concentration or even uplifting, very different from negotiatethe kind of work that interferes with life.
A few months ago, Sandrine Rousseau, a prominent member of the French Green Party, caused a stir when she called for the worker’s right to laziness. Along with practical concerns about whether they will be able to continue working into their mid-60s, jobs that tax their bodies and minds, protesters in France also share their joy. information that Rousseau and Lordon, Lafargue and Montaigne dealt with. our horizon, comment a protester in his 20s, nothing but “working longer and harder”. Early retirement, she added, not only for leisure but also for volunteer work, seems increasingly remote.
Americans may scowl at such claims. But if we stop to think, doesn’t that mean we’re a bit lazy?