Q & A

Q: Why do you hate vacation and leisure so much?

A: I got this question from a guy who heard a bit of my typical rant against the Labor Day holiday. Basically, I think this country has too many holidays. If you want or need to take a day off, that is your business. If a business decides to close for particular days, that is their business. But I despise all government mandated holidays. I also despise the thinking behind the leisure addiction.

Hard work is a cornerstone to prosperity and happiness. This is based on what Aristotle and Max Weber wrote. This seems counterintuitive to so many people that the good life is found in toil. But it shouldn't be. I have done the leisure thing and observed others doing the leisure thing. They report high levels of boredom.

I don't think every waking hour should be spent pursuing the almighty dollar, but I do think those hours should be spent in some sort of meaningful activity. This might actually include surfing. But for most people, it means going somewhere and being bored and pretending to have fun.

The other aspect of all this is that we live in a country that has clearly gone slack. We have able bodied retirees that don't hit a lick but can run a marathon. We have slackers living on unemployment checks. And everyone wants some cushy job where they get overpaid to do squat. And we celebrate the working man by taking a day off from work.

The most meaningful things you do are going to be on the job. I like blogging and Facebooking, but they are not as meaningful as the job I do. I could go whitewater rafting or party in clubs to the wee hours. But in the end, the things I do that matter are the things I get paid to do. This is because those things benefit others.

There is always going to be a certain amount of leisure in one's life, and I see nothing wrong with that. I enjoy reading books in my free time or watching Jersey Shore. But the ratio of work to leisure should be much larger than what it is currently. I don't buy into the eight hours for work, eight hours for leisure, eight hours for sleep thing. I think work should be 10 to 12 hours a day at least six days a week. Right now, I don't have that, and it bothers me. I would feel a lot better about myself if I worked more.

The urge to do nothing is a hedonistic impulse, but hedonism does not yield happiness. I am working on a post about this subject that I hope to have done this week which will explain this further. But if you have ever been on a beach bored out of your skull and pretending to have a good time, you know what I am getting at. Work is the most fun you will ever have if you can get over the guilt of being a workaholic.

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