THE MODERN WORLD 237
Depression, a period of global
economic crisis following the Wall
Street Crash of 1929. It might seem
distasteful to promote the virtues
of idleness at such a time, when
unemployment was rising to a third
of the working population in some
parts of the world. For Russell,
however, the economic chaos of
the time was itself the result of a
set of deep-rooted and mistaken
attitudes about work. Indeed, he
claims that many of our ideas
about work are little more than
superstitions, which should be
swept away by rigorous thinking.
What is work?
Russell begins by defining work,
which he says is of two kinds. First,
there is work aimed at “altering the
position of matter at or near the
earth’s surface relative to other
such matter.” This is the most
fundamental sense of work—that
of manual labor. The second kind of
work is “telling other people to alter
the position of matter relative to
other such matter.” This second
kind of work, Russell says, can be
extended indefinitely—not only
can you have people employed to
supervise people who move matter,
but others can be employed to
supervise the supervisors, or give
advice on how to employ other
people, while still more can be
employed to manage the people
who give advice on how to employ
people, and so on. The first kind
of work, he says, tends to be
unpleasant and badly paid, while
the second tends to be more
pleasant, and better paid. These
two types of work define two types
of worker—the laborer and the
supervisor—and these in turn relate
to two social classes—the working
Our attitudes to work
are irrational.We assume that work
is good in itself.We value different
types of work
differently.So we should recognize
what work is genuinely
valuable, and only do this.These attitudes lead
to unhappiness.See also: Jean-Jacques Rousseau 154–59 ■ Adam Smith 160–163 ■ Edmund Burke 172–73 ■ Jeremy Bentham 174 ■
John Stuart Mill 190–93 ■ Karl Marx 196–203 ■ Henry David Thoreau 204 ■ Isaiah Berlin 280–81 ■ John Rawls 294–95
The Great Depression was the worst
economic depression of the 20th century.
For Russell, it highlighted the need for a
critique of capitalism and a re-evaluation
of the ethics of work.class and the middle class. But to
these Russell adds a third class,
who he claims has a lot to answer
for—that of the leisured landowner
who avoids all work, and who
depends on the labor of others
to support his or her idleness.
According to Russell, history is
littered with examples of people
working hard all their lives and
being allowed to keep just enough
for themselves and their families
to survive, while any surplus they
produce is appropriated by warriors,
priests, and the leisured ruling
classes. And it is always these
beneficiaries of the system, says ❯❯Working less will
increase human
happiness.