Dhe story told in this book by Cambridge social anthropologist James Suzman is old. It is regarding mankind’s self-rescue through moderation. It is by no means a simple recapitulation of the notion of a moderate life as a condition of its success, which has been common since Aristotle at the latest. Rather, Suzman argues historically and ethnologically that a moderate life is not only possible and does not have to be paid for with great losses, but also gives more room for human individuality to develop. In a way, this determines the narrative style of the book, which presents a history of decline grouped around the complex of human energy production and energy use, condensed in human work behavior. The German title, according to which this book is regarding a “different history of mankind”, is therefore misleading. The original English title is clearer: “Work – A History of how we spend our time”.
Suzman’s findings are seemingly unequivocal. If the older and historically extremely long-lasting hunter-gatherer cultures had ensured their subsistence with very little labor and had comparatively egalitarian social structures, it was first through the Neolithic revolution, i.e. the transition to sedentarization and agriculture, and then through the emergence of the modern economy in the course of the industrial revolution everything has changed. As a result, economic productivity has increased significantly in each case. However, working hours and the workload have also increased without the standard of living and standard of living having really increased in the long term. A large proportion of the growing production was swallowed up by the population, which was growing at the same time, and the urbanization that had become possible was associated with a significant increase in social inequality.
Consequences of modern agriculture and modern industry
In addition, Malthusian traps always threatened, i.e. crises as a result of crop failures, diseases and wars, which in turn drastically reduced the growing population. Only the Industrial Revolution would have brought increases in productivity, which would now also have brought regarding improvements for large parts of the population. However, the hope that these improvements would eventually lead to a more content, less workaholic and more relaxed humanity, as John Maynard Keynes had in mind, was not fulfilled. On the contrary, the increases in productivity would have helped a “malaise of boundless entitlement” to victory, which is now in danger of ruining the planet through energy-intensive work and growth processes and the associated increase in population.
James Suzman: “They called it work”. Another story of mankind.
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Image: CH Beck Verlag
Which looms for Suzman in a new gigantic Malthusian trap. For him, the way out of it lies in self-moderation, in lowering our consumer expectations, which not only allows the ecological challenges to be overcome, but also promises a more fulfilling life. For him, the last hunter-gatherers of the Kalahari are an example that such balanced and long-term stable life forms exist.
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