Aesthetics of the Invisible World

The Value of Work

There is no more obnoxious way to punish a man than to force him to perform acts which make no sense to him, as when one empties and fills the same ditch indefinitely, when one makes soldiers who are being punished march up and down, or when one forces a schoolboy to copy lines.

~ Simone de Beauvoir

Most men and women who commit crimes are punished with no emphasis on rehabilitation.  It’s a cruel waste of human life.  I’ve never read it so articulately illustrated as Dostoyevsky’s The House of the Dead.  It’s a shame that books like these are not essential reading, although I understand the commitment involved by the reader. 

A more casual, contemporary encounter is Paul Modrowski’s true life journal: On the Inside.  He is currently serving a life sentence in Stateville Prison in Illinois, attempting to make the most of a life filled with empty activity.  Free or imprisoned, guilty or innocent, activity devoid of meaning only leads to a cycle of constant despair. 

Work is worship.  Good work is a powerful tool for helping oneself and others.  It is the prescription for mental rehabilitation and the foundation of self-respect.

~ü