More About People
More About People - meaning Summary
Leisure Invites Judgment
Ogden Nash satirically surveys how society treats leisure and labor. The poem shows people quick to criticize or micromanage those not working, praising work with moralizing examples yet using economic pressure to force conformity. Nash highlights a paradox: one must labor to earn the freedom not to work. The tone is wry and observational, exposing hypocrisy in social attitudes toward idleness and industriousness.
Read Complete AnalysesWhen people aren't asking questions They're making suggestions And when they're not doing one of those They're either looking over your shoulder or stepping on your toes And then as if that weren't enough to annoy you They employ you. Anybody at leisure Incurs everybody's displeasure. It seems to be very irking To people at work to see other people not working, So they tell you that work is wonderful medicine, Just look at Firestone and Ford and Edison, And they lecture you till they're out of breath or something And then if you don't succumb they starve you to death or something. All of which results in a nasty quirk: That if you don't want to work you have to work to earn enough money so that you won't have to work.
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