That all depends on the quality and quantity of bodily exercise, I think:
***** If at any one time of my life more than another, I was made to drink the bitterest dregs of slavery, that time was during the first six months of my stay with Mr. Covey. We were worked in all weathers. It was never too hot or too cold; it could never rain, blow, hail, or snow, too hard for us to work in the field. Work, work, work, was scarcely more the order of the day than of the night. The longest days were too short for him, and the shortest nights too long for him. I was somewhat unmanageable when I first went there, but a few months of this discipline tamed me. Mr. Covey succeeded in breaking me. I was broken in body, soul, and spirit. My natural elasticity was crushed, my intellect languished, the disposition to read departed, the cheerful spark that lingered about my eye died; the dark night of slavery closed in upon me; and behold a man transformed into a brute!
Sunday was my only leisure time. I spent this in a sort of beast-like stupor, between sleep and wake, under some large tree. At times I would rise up, a flash of energetic freedom would dart through my soul, accompanied with a faint beam of hope, that flickered for a moment, and then vanished. I sank down again, mourning over my wretched condition.
(Frederick Douglass, _Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass, An American Slave_, Chapter X) *****
Even under socialism or anarchism, that is, without exploitation, too much manual labor will sink people into "a sort of beast-like stupor." Just how much is too much is debatable. Eight hours are surely too long, I think. As a young man, my father was an avid reader, whose paperback library of modern and ancient classics got me to acquire a passion for reading. While he was a steelworker, he could hardly read after work, however, often falling asleep after a page or two, which saddened him a great deal. Now retired, he's finally back to reading, spending a lot of time at a local library in Chigasaki.
Back to the Brook Farm:
***** The original plan was to work only a few hours a day by dividing the work between themselves (Litz, 1998)....It was not very realistic that they could run a farm only working a few hours a day. They ended up working until nightfall, and by that time, there was only time for eating and sleeping (Pennell, 1999). Hawthorne received many letters from his sisters asking him when he was coming for a visit. Apparently everyone on the farm did not have time for social engagements or vacations. When Mr. Coverdale from The Blithedale Romance announces that he is going away for a rest, Mr. Foster says to his wife in a sarcastic tone, "Let me have a plateful of that pork and cabbage! I begin to feel in a weakly way. When the others have had their turn, you and I will take a jaunt to Newport or Saratoga!" (Hawthorne, 1983, p. 752).
Litz, A. W., & Weigel, M. (1998). American writers: A collection of literary biographies. New York: Simon & Schuster Macmillan.
Pennell, M. M. (1999). Student companion to Nathaniel Hawthorne. Westport, CT: Greenwood Press.
<http://www.nhti.tec.nh.us/library/authorresources/hawthorneutopian.htm> *****
That's something that anarchists and others wishing to create intentional communities need to consider. Trying to create anarchist communities that encompass all aspects of social life in the interstices of a capitalist country is even more quixotic than socialism in one country; it will be more than a full-time job, without leaving much time for politics other than maintaining the communities.
At 4:32 PM -0500 8/21/02, Carrol Cox wrote:
>>The fact that you can't think while exercising is perhaps the most
>>positive thing about exercise.
>
>Oh come now. I'm and in a seige of depression I can't read -- _except_
>while I'm pedalling an exercycle. I read all of _The Wealth of Nations_
>, a history of the South Sea Bubble, and _Theories of Surplus Value_
>while peddling an exercycle an hour a day 5 or 6 days a week one spring
>-- and hardly read a page otherwise during that entire time.
Reading on a stationary bike is possible, but most kinds of manual labor aren't compatible with reading while at work. Cigar factory workers had books read to them at work, though, and the tradition has been kept up in Cuba:
***** January 16, 2000
Reaching for the soul of Cuba
by Marc Ramirez Seattle Times staff reporter
...When a handful of delegates visits the Fabrica La Corona cigar factory, near the Havana's Museum of the Revolution, the chorus' mission comes to life.
They're greeted by Odalys Reyes, whose job includes reading literature and newspapers to the company's 700 employees as they work - a tradition that goes back to Marti, the Cuban essayist, poet and military hero. This was how the cigar workers grew to love Alexandre Dumas' "The Count of Monte Cristo," giving the famed Montecristo cigar its name.
Come to think of it, though, most kinds of mental labor that exist now are not compatible with reading at work for enjoyment or intellectual development either. -- Yoshie
* Calendar of Events in Columbus: <http://www.osu.edu/students/sif/calendar.html> * Anti-War Activist Resources: <http://www.osu.edu/students/sif/activist.html> * Student International Forum: <http://www.osu.edu/students/sif/> * Committee for Justice in Palestine: <http://www.osu.edu/students/CJP/>