He Would do Anything, Except Take a Proper Job

July 12, 2023 12:00 AM

Doing nothing in a world where everybody seemed busy doing something – anything – struck Cioran as the only lifestyle worth pursuing and defending. A life devoid of action and practical ambitions, of distractions and busyness, is a life in which room has been made for meaning: ‘Anything good comes from indolence, from our incapacity of taking action, executing our projects and plans,’ Cioran wrote. And he behaved accordingly. from Learning to be a loser: a philosopher’s case for doing nothing [Psyche]
posted by chavenet (16 comments total)

Good article until the author showed their ass with a cheap, ill-informed shot at trigger warnings. That left a sour taste in my mouth.
posted by bobot at 5:19 AM on July 12, 2023 [8 favorites]

He really took on a life without ambition ... rather ambitiously. I don't mind living a small-scale, unassuming life in order to leave plenty of time for daydreaming, but it doesn't seem like the hustle Cioran had to build up in order to keep body and soul together was much less work than a lot of actual jobs, y'know?
posted by rikschell at 5:31 AM on July 12, 2023 [1 favorite]

Well, nobody asked, but I prefer Bartleby and Thoreau when it comes to peak white dude disaffection.
posted by wicked_sassy at 6:20 AM on July 12, 2023 [7 favorites]

Nothing will come of nothing.
posted by BWA at 6:48 AM on July 12, 2023 [1 favorite]

Choose life. Choose a job. Choose a career. Choose a family. Choose a fucking big television. Choose washing machines, cars, compact disc players, and electrical tin openers. Choose good health, low cholesterol, and dental insurance. Choose fixed-interest mortgage repayments. Choose a starter home. Choose your friends. Choose leisurewear and matching luggage. Choose a three piece suite on hire purchase in a range of fucking fabrics. Choose DIY and wondering who the fuck you are on a Sunday morning. Choose sitting on that couch watching mind-numbing, spirit-crushing game shows, stuffing fucking junk food into your mouth. Choose rotting away at the end of it all, pishing your last in a miserable home, nothing more than an embarrassment to the selfish, fucked-up brats you have spawned to replace yourselves. Choose your future. Choose life. But why would I want to do a thing like that?
posted by kirkaracha at 8:13 AM on July 12, 2023 [3 favorites]

Sounds like one of the non-working Non Player Characters in a video game
posted by olopua at 8:47 AM on July 12, 2023 [2 favorites]

Cioran is my hero.
posted by toodleydoodley at 9:29 AM on July 12, 2023 [1 favorite]

‘[T]o do nothing at all is the most difficult thing in the world, the most difficult and the most intellectual,’ Oscar Wilde observed

to which I reply with Office Space:

"hell, look at my cousin, he's broke, don't do shit."
posted by We put our faith in Blast Hardcheese at 10:22 AM on July 12, 2023 [1 favorite]

As I like to say, Winning is for losers.
posted by night_train at 10:53 AM on July 12, 2023 [1 favorite]

Who let this guy sponge off them in perpetuity? Gee, must be nice to be able to live off the kindness of others.
I've known some other losers in life. Finding someone to sponge off of forever can be difficult.
posted by jenfullmoon at 11:58 AM on July 12, 2023 [4 favorites]

Ugh yes wondering the same thing.
posted by sepviva at 2:52 PM on July 12, 2023 [3 favorites]

We're all sponging off someone in some sense though. Sustaining the earthly footprint of a "loser" is far cheaper than sustaining the lifestyle of the average middle manager in corporate America who drives an SUV to work every day and lives in a big house in the suburbs. Society has to pay the price either way, and the former is a far better deal.

We don't all have to become "losers", but the outrage against them seems selective.
posted by splitpeasoup at 3:03 PM on July 12, 2023 [2 favorites]

Well, nobody asked, but I prefer Bartleby and Thoreau when it comes to peak white dude disaffection.

Speaking as someone who very much would prefer not to, I found the sudden switch from humor in triumph over the chains of "to" to misery in the arms of "not to" in Bartleby the Scrivener to be very off-putting. I felt like I had been drawn into a tsk-tsk lecture under false pretenses.
posted by Flunkie at 3:20 PM on July 12, 2023 [1 favorite]

I adore Cioran, having been introduced to him through Eugene Thacker's Horror of Philosophy series. It's deeply refreshing to hear such an explicit and complete rejection without having some dire alternative thrown at you. I will say his aphorisms are better than his essays; my favorite work of his is The Trouble With Being Born.

And my favorite quote:

It's not worth the bother of killing yourself, since you always kill yourself too late.

posted by Carcosa at 8:17 AM on July 13, 2023 [3 favorites]

> Who let this guy sponge off them in perpetuity?

Yes, I've known my fair share of people who want to barter (someone else's tangible item or needed skill) for their great company and/or singing and/or musical performance, and I have never wanted to take them up on it.
posted by The corpse in the library at 6:28 PM on July 16, 2023 [1 favorite]

There are definitely people who do, though. For every OJ there's a Kato.
posted by Flunkie at 7:25 PM on July 16, 2023 [2 favorites]