[sadavis00]

I am unable to point towards even person I know who is truly "lazy", in the sense of being able to do something, having the potential, but doing doing absolutely nothing.

Sure, people there are people who watch mindless T.V all day, but are these people even able to work without the kind of stress relief that T.V provides? Is not television providing them a kind of therapy, something that helps them through the anxiety and depression they may face when they work? If they "forced" themselves to work more, won't they simply be working unhappy, given that they no longer recieve the therapy of T.V?

Given this idea, I have not been able to find even one person who I can say would be just as happy doing something, as not doing something, they recieve a kind of therapy in not doing something that doing something robs them of.

Also, there are social rules of what is considered "doing something" and what is considered "not doing something". Is socializing, gossiping in the office considered doing something? I would say yes, but others may say no, they may say that only stuff done at the desk is doing something. It is these social rules define who is "lazy" and who is "productive". I think talking to people is as "productive" as doing professional work, if I define productive as something that can be consumed, being good company to someone is certainly an item of consumption for them.

Then there is the idea that people are simply not working "hard enough". I find this idea to be ridiculous also. They are not working at a pace considered adaequate probably because if they worked faster they would be "stressing" themselves, they would be unhappy. Give these people an incentive to work harder, instead of calling them lazy and making them work harder under stressful conditions.

Everyone is "doing something". They can be doing something else, that is for sure. Maybe a person who watches T.V all day can be convinced that this kind of therapy is unnecessary, they may be as happy in some job. A person who socializes all day may be convinced that if they take up marketing, they may be as happy, and they can be more socially productive, a win-win, for both society and the individual.

That said, I think the thrust of social pressure in P.D should not be on becoming more productive, it should be on trying to explore other options for living life, that lead to happiness, and these are also generally socially productive, in the sense that one is more happy with other good people than alone. (I think reading a novel is unproductive, even if a happy thing to do, because it does nothing but expand one's own mind. Reading a novel would be socially productive if it was as part of a book club, or if through the reading of the novel you becomes a better person for other people, which then is socially productive).

P.D. should only be a pursuit of one's happiness, and not some phantom ideal of a busy-busy "productive person", these may go together in many cases, but the latter should not overpower the former. I was mistaken before in this aspect, I think other people may also have become so mistaken, especially if all these articles about producitivity not being lazy are read with reference to whether these ideas will make one more or less happy when applied.