Certainly, context matters; there are plenty of situations in which it’s understandable that people focus intently on the possibility of a better future. (Location 1713)
Note: V bourgeois
One way of understanding capitalism, in fact, is as a giant machine for instrumentalising everything it encounters – the earth’s resources, your time and abilities (or ‘human resources’) – in the service of future profit. (Location 1798)
They’re very good at instrumentalising their time, for the purpose of generating wealth for themselves; that’s the definition of being successful in a capitalist world. But in focusing so hard on instrumentalising their time, they end up treating their lives in the present moment as nothing but a vehicle in which to travel towards a future state of happiness. And so their days are sapped of meaning, even as their bank balances increase. (Location 1801)
And since the dawn of capitalism, it’s been radical in a second way: while capitalism gets its energy from the permanent anxiety of striving for more, the Sabbath embodies the thought that whatever work you’ve completed by the time that Friday (or Saturday) night rolls around might be enough (Location 2062)
Note: Eluvio
we are situated on the receiving end of the gifts of God’.16 One need not be a religious believer to feel some of the deep relief in that idea of being ‘on the receiving end’ – in the possibility that today, at least, there might be nothing more you need to do in order to justify your existence. (Location 2066)
Though it’s a hard thing to establish scientifically, we’re almost certainly much more impatient than we used to be. (Location 2196)
Note: Meaningless
But the other was revelatory: antidepressant use fell by a greater degree, Hartig demonstrated, in proportion to how much of the population of Sweden was on holiday at any given time. Or to put things slightly differently, the more Swedes who were off work simultaneously, the happier people got. They derived psychological benefits not merely from holiday time, but from having the same holiday time as other people. When many were on holiday at once, it was as if an intangible, supernatural cloud of relaxation had settled over the nation as a whole. (Location 2514)
