I haven’t written one of these since I was in the 6th
grade, so bear with me…
It’s the end of August, and here in Europe, at least,
the summer is winding down. Traditionally, it’s the end of the summer “vacation”
season. Never mind that the planet’s circuit around the sun still has another
21 days to go before the summer is actually over – when the equinox returns us
to daylight parity once again.
Why let facts get in the way, right? Twenty-some-odd
days to go under the sun, with the surf and the sand still there. While one
watches the crowds at the beach beginning to thin – those with employment have
to return to the city – those without… Well, outside of the locals without, there
are probably not that many at the beach to begin with. That's because going on vacation with the kids is
probably the second largest expenditure in a family household (after the
mortgage), at least, it used to be for me.
Like the Greeks after the 2008 “Greatest Depression,”
the poor Spaniards (I live near Barcelona, Catalonia) can’t spend their
vacations out and about in the world at large any more. They now flock to the
local beaches, long enjoyed by those who came from Germany, the U.K., and
points farther afield. And naturally, what’s left of the petite bourgeoisie,
whose bank hasn’t reclaimed and confiscated their second and third vacation
homes – they’re back to where they started vacationing 30 years ago.
Well, this got me musing about how absurd our whole approach
to work and leisure really is. Especially now, when we have to live with the “new
normal” – i.e., with a shrinking economy, loss of employment, and its consequent diminished standard of living. Even if one is to believe in the published GDP numbers as Gospel, it doesn't look good (the criteria for those who are Polyannish or
bullish about economic prospects in the long-run is usually summed up in categorical denial and suspension of disbelief), Even India’s
GDP is only 7% – i.e., not much work or production going on there either! China’s
GDP shrunk last year to 7.4%).
A Life of Idle Pleasures
Back to Spain. The majority of people who
are in their most productive years (18-35) and at their highest-earning
potential are unemployed. In Spain that age group has a 62% unemployment rate. Talk
about wealth elimination and another “lost generation.” GDP, of course, doesn’t
tally the costs of the unemployed on society (with its concomitant boozing,
drug addiction, gender-violence, shootings, depression, destruction of the
family unit, etc.), these negative social effects actually add to GDP growth!
How dysfunctional can you get? Keeping up appearances can be a costly
endeavour.
For good or ill, people have finally been made free by
the System (made “redundant” would be the more accurate word). I would imagine
a pealing cheer of joy ought to be heard around the world as the chains of
slavery are heaved off and a future of couch potato-ing and leisure can resume.
NOT!
It’s no longer a matter of choice, especially in the West. The System doesn’t
need “workers” only enough refugees and immigrants to keep wages painfully low
(and thus keep wealth distribution, as always, to its barest minimum).
As a result tens of
millions are forced to enjoy a life of idle leisure, penniless…
One would think that in a post-industrial world spending
time on leisure would be the ultimate in “self-fulfilment.” After all,
didn’t they promise us a “jobless” economy? Why the financiers and the captains
of industry have certainly delivered on that one! But where are the robots and
wonderful technology that was going to make life easy as eating cake? Where are
the innovations that actually produce something and which would free us from drudgery
and boredom? We always want to grow fat, dumb, and happy (or some unreasonable facsimile
of it), and there's no better time than the present for it.
Judging by the great amount of flabby flesh pouring
out over the skimpy bikinis and swimming trunks at the beach, it appears to me that
the “fat and dumb” portion of the program is right on schedule… Capitalism seems
to have delivered more than it promised. So why aren’t we happy about it?
Got Time on My Hands
This set me thinking about how different the approach
to leisure and economic life must have been in the past, especially in
antiquity. The Ancient Egyptians, for one, had a “production” based economy,
probably the last one to have actually worked well in our planet’s history. Yet
they had far more leisure time (and time to themselves) than we do… Didn’t they
build the pyramids on their time “off”?
They had so much time on their hands that even as they
were made idle, during the Season of Inundation (Nile flooding), they built huge
monuments. And, here is precisely where the difference between us is most appallingly
great – wider than the Grand Canyon. Even in their leisure time, the Ancient
Egyptians were nothing if not productive. Just like the bees build their
honeycombs during their “down time” (when they’re not foraging and gathering honey),
the Ancient Egyptians built up their sacred infrastructure outside of their “working
hours.” In other words, in their leisure time – they “worked for fun.”
What a concept! That’s another good habit we’ve lost
as we’ve become a sedated and sedentary people.
Actually, the Ancient Egyptians made of their work an
offering. An offering they made with desire and joy in their hearts (because
they wanted to, not because they were slaves, as we’ve been told by historians).
And, since there was no money involved, the offering gave much in the form of
dividends for life. (Money made a very late appearance in human affairs, and in Europe, not until the end of the Renaissance in any measurable or practical
way).
What's Your Work Schedule Like?
So what did the Ancient Egyptian's “work schedule” look like? From what
Egyptologists and archaeologists have found, labouring appears to have had the
following rhythm, especially during the New Kingdom (but most likely from much
earlier in their civilization):
·
The year had 12 months.
·
The year is divided into three seasons.
·
Each season was 4 months long.
·
The month was divided into 30 days.
·
Each month was divided into its third –
ten days – or three "decans” (a long week).
·
Out of this “decan,” two days were
reserved for leisure and rest. These were called “offering days.”
·
A full season (four months) during the
year there was no “work” done. (Season of Akhet or Inundation Season.).
Funny how working 24 x 7 with barely 10 days off a
year, we can’t feed a single town! In fact, with our System, we manage to
starve, at least, 50 million people a year. The Ancient Egyptians fed over 4-5
million souls every year (estimated population during the New Kingdom) and
probably two or three times that number year in and year out for 15,000 years! We
have very few relics and archaeological samples to go on to even make a good
guess on population counts… But keep in mind that without the modern invention
of war and disease, and taking into account the far longer lifespans of
individual members of the group (72 years was only 1 year of Râ), as well as
higher fertility rates, ancient peoples were likely more numerous than our modern
research reveals.
What Are You Doing On Your "Offering Days"?
Needless to say, this is not the “conventional” view.
It is, however, the way it was. Like in every beehive, there are no more and no
less bees (workers, drones, or queens) than are absolutely necessary to the
harmony of the hive. Otherwise, nothing can be accomplished.
During these two “offering days” – the Egyptians’
weekend – they “kept going,” because this was the time one had to him-herself.
What did they do during their “free time”? It’s difficult to know with any
precision what the Ancient Egyptians did for pleasure. But there’s no doubt that
they were both as wise and intelligent, and infinitely practical, in their work as they were in their play.
The Ancient Egyptians probably invented many ways to
give themselves pleasure, both spiritually, emotionally, and physically.
Seemingly they converted “work” into a kind of play. And the reason for this, I
believe, is linked to the concept of work as being nothing other than one’s
offering to the Neteru (the gods) – not something lucrative. And this making
play out of “work” is probably what made the Ancient Egyptians so dog-gone
intelligent.
Next time, we’ll get back to the slavery polemic – and
who actually built the pyramids.
