Production - Economics and Ecology: United for a Sustainable World - page 67

possible expenditure of energy. Thus, they had abundant time (leisure) for
eating, drinking, playing, and general socializing. In addition to which,
young people were not expected to work until well into their 20s, and no one
was expected to work after age 40 or so. 1
With respect to leisure, there are two conjoined sides to the concept.
We tend to think of leisure, according to Brother David Steindl-Rast (a
Benedictine monk), as the privilege of the well-to-do. “But leisure,” says
Brother Steindl-Rast, “is a virtue, not a luxury. Leisure is the virtue of those
who take their time in order to give to each task as much time as it deserves.
. . . Giving and taking, play and work, meaning and purpose are perfectly
balanced in leisure. We learn to live fully in the measure in which we learn
to live leisurely.” 2 This sentiment is echoed by Henry David Thoreau: “The
really efficient laborer will be found not to crowd his day with work, but will
saunter to his task surrounded by a wide halo of ease and leisure.” 3
Living leisurely was a trait of the Shoshonean People, who arrived in what
is now Death Valley, California, about 1000 AD. The Shoshonean People were
the seed gatherers of the desert. Much of the year they lived among the sand
dunes in simple shelters of brush, where they harvested mesquite beans.
But when the seed of the piñon pine ripened, they camped in the nearby
Panamint Mountains for the harvest.
They also gathered what other seeds they could and used smooth flat rocks
to grind seeds into flour. In addition to gathering plants, they hunted such
small animals as rodents and lizards and ate adult insects and the grubs of
beetles.
Although their tools were simple, the people possessed great skill. The
ability of these people to find and utilize whatever foods the desert offered
was the key to their survival.
The simple society of the Shoshonean People afforded two things that have
so far eluded us in modern life—ample leisure time and the peace to enjoy
it. Their free time was not devoted to improving their material standard of
living as is ours, perhaps because that rung on the cultural ladder was unat-
tainable in an environment permitting no cultural evolution, but then per-
haps it would not have been perceived as a necessity or even a desire of life
had it been possible.
The Shoshonean People thus lived in fullness within the context of the
natural cycles of their environment and their lives. Their trust was founded
on the natural law of replenishment, just like breathing in and breathing
out. But while the environment provided a subsistence that allowed ample
time for leisure, it also precluded the luxury of war, an activity that requires
its own technology and a perceived abundance of resources to waste. When
warlike tribes entered the valley, the residents just slipped quietly away and
hid until the intruders left. 4
However, the advent of agriculture brought with it both a sedentary way
of life and a permanent change in the flow of living. Whereas the daily life
of a hunter-gatherer was a seamless whole, a farmer's life became divided