Graham R (Ed.) - Anarchism - A Documentary History of Libertarian Ideas Volume One - From Anarchy to Anarchism (300 CE to 1939)

The InteIWarYears /43 7
That is an interesting question, and you will probably be very much surprised
when I say that there is really no such thing as laziness. What we call a lazy man is
generally a square man in a round hole. That is, the right man in the wrong place. And
you will always find that when a fe llow is in the wrong place, he will be inefficient or
shiftless. For so-called laziness and a good deal of inefficiency are merely unfitness,
misplacement. If you are compelled to do the thing you are unfitted for by your inclinations
or temperament, you will be inefficient at it; if you are forced to do work you
are not interested in, you will be lazy at it. ..
Under present conditions there is little choice given the average man to devote
himself to the tasks that appeal to his leanings and preferences. The accident of your
birth and social station generally predetermines your trade or profession. The son of
the financier does not, as a rule, become a woodchopper, though he may be more fit
to handle logs than bank accounts. The middle classes send their children to colleges
which turn them into doctors, lawyers, or engineers. But if your parents were workers
who could not afford to let you study, the chances are that you will take any job
which is offered you, or enter some trade that happens to afford you an apprenticeship.
Your particular situation will decide your work or profession, not your natural
preferences, inclinations, or abilities. Is it any wonder, then, that most people, the
oveIWhelming majority, in fact, are misplaced Ask the first hundred men you meet
whether they would have selected the work they are doing, or whether they would
continue in it, if they were free to choose, and ninety-nine of them will admit that
they would prefer some other occupation. Necessity and material advantages, or the
hope of them, keep most people in the wrong place.
It stands to reason that a person can give the best of himself only when his interest
is in his work, when he feels a natural attraction to it, when he likes it. Then he will be industrious
and efficient ... The need of activity is one of the most fundamental urges of
man. Watch the child and see how strong is his instinct for action, for movement, for doing
something. Strong and continuous. It is the same with the healthy man. His energy
and vitality demand expression. Permit him to do the work of his choice, the thing he
loves, and his application will know neither weariness nor shirking ...
Under Anarchism each will have the opportunity of following whatever occupation
will appeal to his natural inclinations and aptitude. Work will become a pleasure
instead of the deadening drudgery it is today. I.aziness will be unknown, and the
things created by interest and love will be objects of beauty and joy.
It is said that no two blades of grass are alike. Much less so are human beings. In
the whole wide world no two persons are exactly similar even in physical appearance;