The Idler (Issue 39) Lie Back and Protest

by Dan Kieran (Author), Dan Kieran (Author), Tom Hodgkinson (Author)

• Used

  Paperback
  2007

  $3.28

  We are all agreed that there's a lot to complain about in contemporary society. Boredom, exploitation, an explosion of legislation and interference with our everyday freedoms: central government and big business seem to make life more difficult with each month that passes. But do we really need to take to the streets to protest? Or would a more effective form of resistance be to take to our beds and quietly recreate our own lives? In this issue of the Idler, we reflect and philosophise on the notion of protest. CORINNE MAIER interviews three French filmmakers making anti-work movies; we meet the brilliant history professor RONALD HUTTON. JAY GRIFFITHS writes on missionaries; JOHN NICHOLSON celebrates paradise; we ask whether there's any point in going to university and PENNY RIMBAUD reveals the meaning of life. Plus articles on the practical side of idling with advice on treehouse-building and beer-brewing.

• Used

  Paperback
  2005

  $3.28

  The Idler team believe that idleness is unjustly criticised in modern society when it is, in fact, a vital component of a happy life. In this new edition of The Idler, the team examine the way money and greed have taken over our lives and look at ways of escaping its clutches. In Medieval times, prioritising money-making was seen as a sin. On their deathbed, usurers tried to pay back the money they had extorted so they would have a better chance of getting into heaven. Money was just a part of life, a means of exchange, rather than an end in itself. Then came the Protestant work ethic, which introduced the damaging notion that time is money . The Idler wants to reintroduce a fun-loving medieval attitude to life. The last issue looked at how to avoid work; now it looks at how to avoid consuming. You can also expect The Idler's characteristic blend of well-known writers, humour and art.