history of work, part one

The Alberton Papers, Vol II, # 14
By Dick Darne 9-11-06
History of work, part one.
"Nothing is really work unless you would rather be doing something else"
James M. Barrie
In the early days of mankind, from the time there were two or more, one usually did more work than the other. After three or more, or somewhere thereabouts, one of them did no work at all. When persuasion failed, slavery began. Our learned history tells of the days of smiting one’s enemies, begatting more people and enslaving ones fellow man, but at this time there were several advanced civilizations throughout the planet founded on slavery. After all, why do it yourself if you can get someone else to do it for you. Even our founding fathers believed that only a man freed from labor would have time to reflect on governing. During the time of the enslavement of our african- american citizen’s ancestors, our great white fathers decided that we should care for three- fifths of their souls, so began the saving of their souls with the protestant ethic: "hard work is a virtue unto itself", expanded into: "God made the white man to be in charge, your job is to toil for "ol Massa".
After overt slavery was exchanged for more subtle forms such as wage slavery, it was still necessary to convince white people to work hard. While good wages and working conditions go a long way, GWF stuck to the same old theme. The mill towns funded a church and provided the best preacher money could buy. "God made Mr. Jones to be in charge and handle all the money, your job is to toil for Massa Jones". (Check out this scene in the movie, "Norma Rae") . One of our great american thinkers , Emerson, schooled at harvard divinity school, recognized this, read "Compensation" (available at your local library).
Wage slavery is alive and well in the 21st century. dd