One of my favorite topics, striving to carve out some inner life in our current capitalist/outer-life-focused society. There are many points on the spectrum workaholic/hippie but we tend to simplify it and bounce from one extreme to the next. Think of the typical 'I quit my high paying job to travel the world and find myself'. It's not a question of either/or, but of finding a way to blend both in a healthy way.
Given that you say ideas can change culture, I think we (the thinkers and the writers) need to explore more how alternatives to the extreme capitalist lifestyle are just as good, or better for people. I think most people are in the capitalist hamster wheel because (1) they think they cannot survive and pay their debt without it and (2) they wouldn't know what to do with themselves that's satisfactory if they had all the money they needed. What would happen if we worked less and lived with less money? There would be an entire set of (positive, I argue) consequences: we would buy fewer things, we would throw away fewer things, we would produce less trash, etc.
One essay and so much food for thought for me. Thanks for the inspiration, David!
A truly wonderful and thoughtful essay, David. I thoroughly enjoyed it and look forward to reading it and giving it further thought again. Just like the book! :)
Excellent focus here, David, around the novel and Keynes. Certainly, I agree with the critique of hyper-capitalism and the prizing of the inner life. Global capitalism and digital technology accelerate the effects now beyond earlier historical templates arising from the industrial revolution -- and uncontrolled population growth justifies the need for the expansion of both, all of which we call "progress." It's interesting, though, to consider the roots of "workism" and to consider it against any sense we have of inner life before the modern industrial age that laid the foundation for Foster's critique. The leisure to develop and enjoy an inner life is born of means, landed wealth and then mercantile and middle-class wealth. We err, I think, to imagine the poor, broadly defined, as ever having had that leisure in earlier, more pastoral times, and much of the inner lives they did enjoy were manufactured for them, from inculcated religious devotions and unquestionable, presiding cultural values and practices. I think any nostalgia is misplaced. At the same time, despite all kinds of correct measures of modern wealth and income disparities, more people in the world have more leisure time to develop an inner life now than ever before in history. Are we disappointed in the outcomes so far? There, then, we need to think about what occupies people's leisure time now that used to be filled by hard labor. How much of that pretends to produce meaningful inner lives but doesn't? How is *that* tied to hyper-capitalism and compulsive technological "innovation." How much of that is driven by notions of progress that are entirely outward directed?
David, this was a phenomenal piece and I enjoyed it so much. Thank you! There's so much to chew on here, so I would rather sit with it a bit than try to craft response. But if nothing else, thank you for always writing and thinking through this topic, and for giving me another book to read. I'm going to need to hide your pieces from my timeline if I don't want to go bankrupt from book purchases.
While Keynes’ 15-hour work week might sound a little fanciful, consider that in the U.S. today, only 38% of people over 55 even “participate” (ie, work), so perhaps when averaged over a lifetime the number of hours worked per week would be considerably less than 40.
Anyone who has worked a non-exempt hourly job knows that the hours over 40 are where the serious money is, since by law you’re paid 1.5x your hourly rate. So if you pick up an extra shift some week, that means you’re bringing home 52 hours of pay for 48 hours worked (a 30% increase over a normal week). And if you have a union behind you (as I did when I worked at a steel mill during college), you might receive extra perks, like 2.25x on holidays, etc.
I like Keynes’ quote in the paragraph after the one you quoted. It sounds like he’s very much aware of the inner life:
“But it will be those peoples, who can keep alive, and cultivate into a fuller perfection, the art of life itself and do not sell themselves for the means of life, who will be able to enjoy the abundance when it comes.” —Keynes, “Economic Possibilities for Our Grandchildren” (1930)
David, your background as a historian is on fine display here. I appreciate the reminders about Keynes's vision -- which I think has been realized in some places, like northern Europe? Europe hasn't divested from capitalism, exactly, but it does offer some alternatives to Workism -- at least, Sweden and Denmark seem to do so.
Of course your essay makes me think about how completely workism has taken over higher ed, not just in the totalizing attitudes that faculty bring to their work, but also in the ways that colleges market themselves. Anything that isn't directly related to work, such as the arts and humanities (the arts of the inner life), is pushed to the side. And the cost of education has skyrocketed to the point that it really does represent a high-stakes gamble for many families. So it's understandable that they want predictable returns on that investment.
But what's lost is the ability to explore. I believe that work life is ineluctably enriched by inner life, that the two are not separate compartments within us, but active cross-pollinators of one another. What is the economic cost of burnout? It must be substantial. But the source of burnout often is a paucity of inner life, deep roots, some kind of foundation that work life is built upon.
I'm also thinking of my parents' generation, how it seemed possible then for people to dip in and out of experimental lifestyles. Live on a commune for a bit, embrace the communal aspect of work. Many of those people sold out eventually, it seems, or were drawn inexorably back into workism. But they didn't have mountains of debt to dig out of -- they at least had a chance to be young and live relatively uncommitted. So many young people are entrapped by debt that they never have a chance to go live on a farm in Costa Rica for a season or experiment with folk arts in a community setting.
I used to ask my first-year students to list 4 goals for their life after college and 4 obstacles to those goals. One young man said that his top goal in life was to be "financially solvent." I'm sure he picked that phrase up from an authority figure and felt that it made him seem responsible. But I confessed to the class that I often felt like the youngest person in the room. In fact, I hope I never lose my youthful capacity for dreaming -- the inner life depends on it.
A wonderful essay, David. You write with great clarity and focus. I could comment from a political and economic perspective, especially on the UK's move to become a rentier economy in recent decades and the all-pervasive notion of the market in public life, which is more of a religion than a working career, I think. But as you have cleverly woven your argument around a work of literature, let me respond with that anguished cry of Oliver Goldsmith's in The Deserted Village (1770), just as industrial capitalism was capturing the UK's economy:
"Ill fares the land, to hastening ills a prey,
Where wealth accumulates, and men decay:
Princes and lords may flourish, or may fade;
A breath can make them, as a breath has made;
But a bold peasantry, their country's pride,
When once destroyed, can never be supplied."
I look at the UK these days and see many hastening ills coming our way.
Thank you David. I have yet to read Howard’s End. Your points are salient and make me want to read it. I too feel the groundswell against hypercapitalization. Not sure if it has the mass or velocity to stop the necessary beast.
An essay on Inner life and the novel _Howards End_ by E.M. Forster that extends through to economics, capitalism and John Maynard Keynes: Absolutely brilliant from our guest David Roberts.
One of my favorite topics, striving to carve out some inner life in our current capitalist/outer-life-focused society. There are many points on the spectrum workaholic/hippie but we tend to simplify it and bounce from one extreme to the next. Think of the typical 'I quit my high paying job to travel the world and find myself'. It's not a question of either/or, but of finding a way to blend both in a healthy way.
Given that you say ideas can change culture, I think we (the thinkers and the writers) need to explore more how alternatives to the extreme capitalist lifestyle are just as good, or better for people. I think most people are in the capitalist hamster wheel because (1) they think they cannot survive and pay their debt without it and (2) they wouldn't know what to do with themselves that's satisfactory if they had all the money they needed. What would happen if we worked less and lived with less money? There would be an entire set of (positive, I argue) consequences: we would buy fewer things, we would throw away fewer things, we would produce less trash, etc.
One essay and so much food for thought for me. Thanks for the inspiration, David!
A truly wonderful and thoughtful essay, David. I thoroughly enjoyed it and look forward to reading it and giving it further thought again. Just like the book! :)
Excellent focus here, David, around the novel and Keynes. Certainly, I agree with the critique of hyper-capitalism and the prizing of the inner life. Global capitalism and digital technology accelerate the effects now beyond earlier historical templates arising from the industrial revolution -- and uncontrolled population growth justifies the need for the expansion of both, all of which we call "progress." It's interesting, though, to consider the roots of "workism" and to consider it against any sense we have of inner life before the modern industrial age that laid the foundation for Foster's critique. The leisure to develop and enjoy an inner life is born of means, landed wealth and then mercantile and middle-class wealth. We err, I think, to imagine the poor, broadly defined, as ever having had that leisure in earlier, more pastoral times, and much of the inner lives they did enjoy were manufactured for them, from inculcated religious devotions and unquestionable, presiding cultural values and practices. I think any nostalgia is misplaced. At the same time, despite all kinds of correct measures of modern wealth and income disparities, more people in the world have more leisure time to develop an inner life now than ever before in history. Are we disappointed in the outcomes so far? There, then, we need to think about what occupies people's leisure time now that used to be filled by hard labor. How much of that pretends to produce meaningful inner lives but doesn't? How is *that* tied to hyper-capitalism and compulsive technological "innovation." How much of that is driven by notions of progress that are entirely outward directed?
David, this was a phenomenal piece and I enjoyed it so much. Thank you! There's so much to chew on here, so I would rather sit with it a bit than try to craft response. But if nothing else, thank you for always writing and thinking through this topic, and for giving me another book to read. I'm going to need to hide your pieces from my timeline if I don't want to go bankrupt from book purchases.
While Keynes’ 15-hour work week might sound a little fanciful, consider that in the U.S. today, only 38% of people over 55 even “participate” (ie, work), so perhaps when averaged over a lifetime the number of hours worked per week would be considerably less than 40.
https://fred.stlouisfed.org/series/LNS11324230
Anyone who has worked a non-exempt hourly job knows that the hours over 40 are where the serious money is, since by law you’re paid 1.5x your hourly rate. So if you pick up an extra shift some week, that means you’re bringing home 52 hours of pay for 48 hours worked (a 30% increase over a normal week). And if you have a union behind you (as I did when I worked at a steel mill during college), you might receive extra perks, like 2.25x on holidays, etc.
I like Keynes’ quote in the paragraph after the one you quoted. It sounds like he’s very much aware of the inner life:
“But it will be those peoples, who can keep alive, and cultivate into a fuller perfection, the art of life itself and do not sell themselves for the means of life, who will be able to enjoy the abundance when it comes.” —Keynes, “Economic Possibilities for Our Grandchildren” (1930)
Wonderful essay, thank you. In my class I have Keynes’s “Grandchildren” essay as the final piece we read, a parting thought for them to remember
David, your background as a historian is on fine display here. I appreciate the reminders about Keynes's vision -- which I think has been realized in some places, like northern Europe? Europe hasn't divested from capitalism, exactly, but it does offer some alternatives to Workism -- at least, Sweden and Denmark seem to do so.
Of course your essay makes me think about how completely workism has taken over higher ed, not just in the totalizing attitudes that faculty bring to their work, but also in the ways that colleges market themselves. Anything that isn't directly related to work, such as the arts and humanities (the arts of the inner life), is pushed to the side. And the cost of education has skyrocketed to the point that it really does represent a high-stakes gamble for many families. So it's understandable that they want predictable returns on that investment.
But what's lost is the ability to explore. I believe that work life is ineluctably enriched by inner life, that the two are not separate compartments within us, but active cross-pollinators of one another. What is the economic cost of burnout? It must be substantial. But the source of burnout often is a paucity of inner life, deep roots, some kind of foundation that work life is built upon.
I'm also thinking of my parents' generation, how it seemed possible then for people to dip in and out of experimental lifestyles. Live on a commune for a bit, embrace the communal aspect of work. Many of those people sold out eventually, it seems, or were drawn inexorably back into workism. But they didn't have mountains of debt to dig out of -- they at least had a chance to be young and live relatively uncommitted. So many young people are entrapped by debt that they never have a chance to go live on a farm in Costa Rica for a season or experiment with folk arts in a community setting.
I used to ask my first-year students to list 4 goals for their life after college and 4 obstacles to those goals. One young man said that his top goal in life was to be "financially solvent." I'm sure he picked that phrase up from an authority figure and felt that it made him seem responsible. But I confessed to the class that I often felt like the youngest person in the room. In fact, I hope I never lose my youthful capacity for dreaming -- the inner life depends on it.
A fascinating and thoughtful take on Howard’s End - thoroughly enjoyed it. Thank you.
Perhaps the inner and the outer life were never truly separable to begin with, and the very idea that they are is where the battle starts.
A wonderful essay, David. You write with great clarity and focus. I could comment from a political and economic perspective, especially on the UK's move to become a rentier economy in recent decades and the all-pervasive notion of the market in public life, which is more of a religion than a working career, I think. But as you have cleverly woven your argument around a work of literature, let me respond with that anguished cry of Oliver Goldsmith's in The Deserted Village (1770), just as industrial capitalism was capturing the UK's economy:
"Ill fares the land, to hastening ills a prey,
Where wealth accumulates, and men decay:
Princes and lords may flourish, or may fade;
A breath can make them, as a breath has made;
But a bold peasantry, their country's pride,
When once destroyed, can never be supplied."
I look at the UK these days and see many hastening ills coming our way.
Thank you David. I have yet to read Howard’s End. Your points are salient and make me want to read it. I too feel the groundswell against hypercapitalization. Not sure if it has the mass or velocity to stop the necessary beast.
An essay on Inner life and the novel _Howards End_ by E.M. Forster that extends through to economics, capitalism and John Maynard Keynes: Absolutely brilliant from our guest David Roberts.