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The Right to be Lazy

By Paul Lafargue
Fifth Season Pr, 1999
On Line version available on: www.marxists.org

Reviewed by Alfonso Barata

First published in 1883, this short book was written by French-Cuban Marxist author and revolutionary Paul Lafargue whilst in the Parisian prison of Sainte Pélagie.

It is undeniable that its title is as eye-catching as it can get but except for a short revival in the early seventies, this book has remained as a sort of underground cult classic, rather than a widely read, commented and cited piece.

However, this does not disguise the fact that Lafargue's book is a serious and abrasive attack on the economic and social system that was in full swing at the end of the 19th century.

Written as a refutation to a book published earlier under the title 'The right to work', Lafargue sees work, or at least the model of work proposed by the 'Bourgeoisie' of the time as a wicked delusion, which has been forced upon the working classes, a furious passion that is in his own words ' a mental aberration'.

Using the Greek civilisation and Christianity as sources to exemplify how laziness was commonplace in past times (i.e. Lafargue argues that the Greeks despised work and Jesus preached idleness), the author despairs at the idea of twelve hours of work a day, as proposed by the 'moralists and philanthropists of the eighteen century'.

But Lafargue also accuses the working classes for accepting it, for not rebelling against this concept and for allowing themselves to become imprisoned in factories, impoverished and sick.

He even singles out those whose addiction to work seems organic: the Scots, the Auvergnians in France, the Galicians in Spain, the Pomeranians in Germany and the Chinese.

For Paul Lafargue, idleness should become a creative and positive force that would free the world of the illness of a barbaric system that has all but reduced workers to numbers in a cruel chain of misery and profit.

Rich in footnotes and references to historical texts and literary works, this book proposes an original and different of way of looking at a subject- the pitfalls of Capitalism as an economic model- that has been studied and criticised in countless occasions.

Lafargue foresees a regime of idleness, where shows and theatrical performances take place 'always and always'.

Alas, this tantalising prediction hasn't happened yet, and perhaps never will, at least in the foreseeable future.

Depressingly, many of the passages of this book written over 120 years ago could have written in 2008, which does not say much about our ability to rid ourselves of the 'miseries of compulsory work'.

This book, however, is well worth a read, especially for those interested in the evolution of the concept of work throughout History, as its historical value is immense.

Its edginess and its provocative while unusual approach make it also interesting for anyone who favours books that challenge the 'established truth'.

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Comment left by Paul Littler on 25th April, 2009 at 13:17
Bloodsuckers... You have to ask yourself what would happen to the capitalist market economy system if people really woke up to the fact that two thirds of their lives are being stolen by the greedy landowners and factory bosses? If people were allowed to live without having to donate two thirds of their time to make money for the rich minority, they might have time to think about something other than what their next task is, or the latest crisis on the tv news as they're eating their evening meal. What about all the other forms of bullshit our daily life is filled with? What if people weren't forced to live on top of each other? Jammed in like factory hens in little breeding boxes without any real sense of privacy. What if people were allowed the time to just chill, and sit back and enjoy the simple things in life like the warmth of the sun on one's skin, a gentle sea breeze and the smell of the salty air down by the sea. The sound of birds chattering among themselves as they flutter around from tree to tree. The taste of tea and biscuits, first thing, when you wake from a snooze. A thousand things we never really have enough time to enjoy because we're made to work to make profits for the electricity company shareholders, the gas company shareholders, the vat man, the poll tax man, the rent man, the supermarket clan and all the other blood sucking vampires who live off the common peoples' back because they're allowed to by the capitalist market economist bastards who run and ruin our world.

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