On work
Unless man exploits others, he has to work in order to live.
Erich Fromm, The Sane Society, p.172
[...] rightly has man been defined as "the animal that produces".
[...] With the collapse of the medieval structure, and the beginning of the modern mode of production, the meaning and function of work changed fundamentally, especially in the Protestant countries. Man, being afraid of his newly won freedom, was obsessed by the need to subdue his doubts and fears by developing a feverish activity. The outcome of this activity, success or failure, decided his salvation, indicating whether he was among the saved or the lost souls. Work, instead of being an activity satisfying in itself and pleasurable, became a duty and an obsession. The more it was possible to gain riches by work, the more it became a pure means to the aim of wealth and success.
Work became an answer to man's sense of aloneness and isolation.
However, work in this sense existed only for the upper and middle classes, those who could amass some capital and employ the work of others.
For the vast majority of those who had only their physical energy to sell, work became nothing but forced labour.
The worker in the eighteenth or nineteenth century who had to work sixteen hours if he did not want to starve was not doing it because he served the Lord in this way, nor because his success would show that he was among the "chosen" ones, but because he was forced to sell his energy to those who had the means of exploiting it.
The first centuries of the modern era find the meaning of work divided into that of duty among the middle class, and that of forced labour among those without property.
Erich Fromm, The Sane Society, p.172
[...] rightly has man been defined as "the animal that produces".
[...] With the collapse of the medieval structure, and the beginning of the modern mode of production, the meaning and function of work changed fundamentally, especially in the Protestant countries. Man, being afraid of his newly won freedom, was obsessed by the need to subdue his doubts and fears by developing a feverish activity. The outcome of this activity, success or failure, decided his salvation, indicating whether he was among the saved or the lost souls. Work, instead of being an activity satisfying in itself and pleasurable, became a duty and an obsession. The more it was possible to gain riches by work, the more it became a pure means to the aim of wealth and success.
Work became an answer to man's sense of aloneness and isolation.
However, work in this sense existed only for the upper and middle classes, those who could amass some capital and employ the work of others.
For the vast majority of those who had only their physical energy to sell, work became nothing but forced labour.
The worker in the eighteenth or nineteenth century who had to work sixteen hours if he did not want to starve was not doing it because he served the Lord in this way, nor because his success would show that he was among the "chosen" ones, but because he was forced to sell his energy to those who had the means of exploiting it.
The first centuries of the modern era find the meaning of work divided into that of duty among the middle class, and that of forced labour among those without property.
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