I don't feel this article quite falls under the anti-work concept of this forum. It does castigate Tim Ferris's model, but really it doesn't question the idea of work entirely. It basically just says, "Tim Ferris's model is stupid and short-sighted, so use another version instead."
That's the fatal flaw that so many utopians, regardless of politics seem to fall under. Ultimately they've so embraced the idea of constant production, work for the sake of work, that they will transfer it over to their new society and invariably wind up creating one not that different from Capitalism.
After all, there really is no need for constant production of most products. I like cute t-shirts with funny sayings on them as much as the next person, but we've produced so many clothes that if we wanted to, we could give everyone on the planet the kind of massive wardrobe that makes a teenage sitcom star, green with envy. Yet in spite of all this, we constantly keep producing more clothes.
The mindset of constant production is so ingrained in us that we simply can't stop making more stuff that is mostly unneeded. And there's an obvious flaw to the idea of constant production. Constant production requires constant growth, because invariably resources will get used up due to said production.
Until recently, Capitalism was able to keep going, because there were always new lands to expand to, with new resources to exploit. What's happening now is that there are no places left to expand to. Capitalism has effectively spread into every corner of the globe. It is trying to keep the game going longer by cannibalizing itself, but there's an obvious flaw in that strategy, one that will eventually cause the whole thing to come crashing down.
Craftsmanship—The Alternative to the Four Hour Work Week Mindset
RedEmmaSpeaks wrote (edited )
I don't feel this article quite falls under the anti-work concept of this forum. It does castigate Tim Ferris's model, but really it doesn't question the idea of work entirely. It basically just says, "Tim Ferris's model is stupid and short-sighted, so use another version instead."
That's the fatal flaw that so many utopians, regardless of politics seem to fall under. Ultimately they've so embraced the idea of constant production, work for the sake of work, that they will transfer it over to their new society and invariably wind up creating one not that different from Capitalism.
After all, there really is no need for constant production of most products. I like cute t-shirts with funny sayings on them as much as the next person, but we've produced so many clothes that if we wanted to, we could give everyone on the planet the kind of massive wardrobe that makes a teenage sitcom star, green with envy. Yet in spite of all this, we constantly keep producing more clothes.
The mindset of constant production is so ingrained in us that we simply can't stop making more stuff that is mostly unneeded. And there's an obvious flaw to the idea of constant production. Constant production requires constant growth, because invariably resources will get used up due to said production.
Until recently, Capitalism was able to keep going, because there were always new lands to expand to, with new resources to exploit. What's happening now is that there are no places left to expand to. Capitalism has effectively spread into every corner of the globe. It is trying to keep the game going longer by cannibalizing itself, but there's an obvious flaw in that strategy, one that will eventually cause the whole thing to come crashing down.