On May 26, 2008, at 10:55 PM, WD wrote:
> But I do
> suspect physical labor nevertheless has some sort of inherent (if
> intangible) value.
I think Adorno already addressed this point better than I ever could, but I hear the guilt of an intellectual talking here.
> Argument from authority aside, criticizing alienated (physical) labor
> without ever having, e.g., worked on an assembly line does seem a
> little odd. The summer I spent before college sanding metal filing
> cabinets all day certainly left an impression on me, and I'm better
> off for it.
I've done dishwashing, merchant marining, toll collecting, loading trucks, mopping floors - all in small doses, with the knowledge that it was almost certainly very temporary. But that sort of manual labor leaves one exhausted and mentally numb. I don't think there's any wisdom to be derived from it. Isn't one of the points of being a socialist or other sort of radical helping make people's work lives less damaging?
Doug