• MetaCubed@lemmy.world
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    1 year ago

    Fun fact! “Laziness” as an idea (the sin of sloth etc etc) was invented by 16th century Puritans, promoting the idea that those who didn’t work as much as the Puritans saw fit were committing a mortal sin. The concept of laziness was used to justify slavery, because they were “just protecting the poor slaves mortal soul from eternal damnation”.

    Obviously this isn’t true anymore, but nowadays, if you’re not constantly doing something to contribute to the economy, doing something to make yourself more useful to the economy, then you are lazy. Bezos gets to sail Spain in his private yacht for weeks, but if you take a day off for mental health, then you’re the problem. Our concepts of productivity, while fueled by capitalism, are still built on Puritan ideals.

    • Ichipurka@lemmy.world
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      1 year ago

      Laziness as a concept doesn’t need to necessarily be tied to the notion of economic prosperity. Work for yourself and your own spiritual growth - are you lazy in that sense, or are you serious with it?

      Laziness in the sense I meant is that we need to congregate together to combat the rich and hold them accountable. We are “lazy” because we aren’t so proactive as a society when taking actions against the rich.