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Conserve Energy; Be Idle:
Tom Hodgekinson on living rich while working less
by Katie Elizabeth Renz

Today’s energy crisis isn’t only about the declining fossil fuel production. Americans are selling their time at nearly record levels, and even the Girl Scouts are working hard for a “Stress Less” badge. Our physical, mental, and spiritual energy reserves are depleted, on empty.

Is it really surprising that most of us lack the energy to keep up on the news, plant a garden, or learn about political candidates beyond those obnoxious commercials, much less prepare for peak oil while simultaneously stopping the war, saving the California red-legged frog, and building a cob home?

Tom Hodgkinson, founder of The Idler (an – appropriately -- biannual publication) and author of the hilarious-yet-astute How to Be Idle (May 2005) is convinced our personal energy expenditures are better devoted toward doing nothing than slaving for the almighty dollar. “I quite liked the idea of a magazine called The Idler,” Hodgkinson told HopeDance, “because I was finding that all my friends and I were massively disappointed with the world of work.”

Conventional employment sacrifices everyday freedom, he argues, consequently scraping the leisure time that often prompts bursts of creative production. Thus, Hodgkinson has spent the past 12 years paring down his work routine (and concurrently, his finances). His average day is spent taking care of his three children, reading, writing, lunching with his girlfriend, gardening, and relaxing in his Mexican hammock.

HopeDance: In How to Be Idle, you consider how overwork affects a democratic society, even if it’s as simple as taking away personal choices like what time we get out of bed. But as for citizen participation in government, when we’re constantly working, it’s hard to find time even to vote, much less be an activist.

Tom Hodgkinson: What I’ve found in working less is you get more involved in real politics: local issues that affect your own community. Many people think that if what we’re doing isn’t actually earning money, or spending it, it’s worthless. But if you work less, you can actually give more to society, on a local level.

I was reading a book the other day that said what’s weird about being in a consumer society is that during the day you’re bossed around, more or less, and then you come out of the office or the factory gates and you’re courted by all the ads, saying “Buy our product!” “The consumer is king!” “Come with us!” The radio and TV and billboards hammer away at you. This gives you the idea you’re a free person with lots of choice. It’s almost as if democracy is the kind of freedom you’re supposed to get from the commercial society.

HD: Then on the other hand, working less creates more independence, which is threatening to a capitalist society.
TH: The idea of a government is to create an ordered, willing work force where there’s no trouble. So I think idlers are generally seen as potentially dangerous because they’re asking questions. They’re saying, “Well, actually, this life of buying bigger cars and getting a raise, getting a second home and working hard for somebody else doing something I don’t enjoy, isn’t such a great idea, so I’m going to explore the alternatives.”

HD: Creating time to pursue other, perhaps more personally-sustainable lifestyles, is a huge shift, almost revolutionary.
TH: It’s got to be an everyday-sort of individual revolution, which is best anyway, because what happens with revolutions is a new load of people at the top come in and they don’t seem to be much better than the previous ones.

There was a revolution in medieval times called “the city states.” Europe’s beautiful cathedral cities, with their cobblestone streets and winding paths, apparently, were a result of the workers’ guild system. Workers who escaped from the feudal system built their own cities. They had sophisticated rules governing how people related to each other, based on cooperation and mutual help, and on every-day creativity. The point is: it has happened before.

HD: I think it’s a hurdle for the wealthy to work less because they’re accustomed to luxury consumption, and it’s a matter of survival for the working class. Plus, there’s that culturally-ingrained Protestant work ethic. So, what are some practical first steps toward becoming more idle?
TH: Number one, get rid of the guilt. And how do you get rid of it? By reading some good information about the history of the work ethic, or some good philosophy about idleness: Bertrand Russell or Oscar Wilde, people who weren’t losers but didn’t believe in the work ethic.

And other ways, like cutting down on commuting. Cycling to the office -- it’s so nice, isn’t it? Some days you can just ramble.

Before that, limiting yourself to a 40-hour week, not working 50 hours or 60 or 70. It’s just crazy. And it’s actually irresponsible to you and irresponsible to your family and your friends. Why should your employer’s profits be more important than your children or spouse? You’re not even going to get any of the profits. All you get is not losing your job. It’s a negative system.

HD: I think Americans need to realize that being idle and working hard aren’t mutually exclusive.
TH: And [when writing How to Be Idle] I did have that approach to it right from the beginning; it wasn’t “do nothing all day.” It was just that you appreciate the value of doing nothing a good portion of your day -- for your mental health, your physical health, your relationships. Also you appreciate the importance of getting out of the wage-slavery thing, more or less, and trying to look after yourself, and that’s the anarchist side of it.


Katie would like to cultivate your idleness. Schedule an appointment at k8ylizzie@hotmail.com.


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