Monday, August 11, 2008

Leisure Class on both ends


There is a seductive quote in Jon Krakauer's book 'Eiger Dreams.' (That book is, in my opinion, just as readable as his very well-known Into Thin Air.)
A guy, who just lives to ski and rock-climb claims that
"At either end of the economic spectrum lies a leisure class"
The idea of people enjoying leisure (rich in time) even while being on the financially-poor end of the spectrum fascinated me. I remember mentioning this sentiment to SR, a close friend and a colleague of mine at the time.
"Ram, this sounds very cool but is not true, man" he insisted. He was probably right in his pragmatism.

But even now, after all these years, I wonder if there isn't something to that quote after all.

2 comments:

Arvind said...

Ram,
I agree with you completely on the leisure class. Buddhist monks - and there are enough of them to be a nontrivial sized group, certainly are in the leisure class. They are enjoying themselves in a sense that they know of joys that you and I dont. The surfer dudes, plenty of them, fall into this category.

If SR's question is directed at the longevity of group membership in this class I would say the following - Once a monk always a monk. Once a surfer dude, am not sure, but still think on average yes.

BTW, if you intended this blog to be private and dont welcome comments, I am unaware of it, so please remind me.

Arvind

Ram said...

Hey Arvind,

This blog is not private, so I appreciate all comments.

Ram