Mastodawn

In EN, the word "work" comes from "do." In FR, "torture." Think about the difference in perspective. I do. It comes up as a US leftist in France, trying to communicate my ideas. In Pravic (I recently finished The Dispossessed by Ursula K. LeGuin), same word for work & play. In Ecotopia, the protagonist remarked on how work and play seemed to go hand in hand. Think on that. It's a koan, maybe.
#leftism #ursulakleguin #buddhism #english #french #etymology #koan #thedispossessed #ecotopia #zen

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Lorraine Lee Jul 17, 2025

@donthatedontkill I think the French are on to something with that work as torture concept. According to Christianity, the necessity of livelihood is part of God's way of punishing us for original disobedience, so it rings true.

I very much enjoyed The Dispossessed, particularly the idea of the "Division Of Labor". I also liked the "Job Guarantee" as described in Doctorow's book Lost Cause.

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donthatedontkill Jul 17, 2025

@lori I don't really agree with the French, at least in so much that work has to be torture or punishment. I think what I was trying to get at is that we should start dreaming of a society where work is not intrinsically torture.

I haven't heard of the lost cause. I'll have to check it out!