"Work ennobles a person" - this is how people of the older generation, post-war and up to the collapse of the USSR, used to say. Then somehow gradually the statement began to lose its former glory.
Who first said this phrase? It is known that it belongs to the popular literary critic Vissarion Belinsky. His works during the years of the existence of Soviet power and the USSR were widely promoted. Belinsky's articles, devoted to the analysis of the works of the classics, were studied in a secondary school. Why was his opinion significant for the state?
Belinsky and socialist realism
The critic's views largely coincided with the ideology of the socialist state. He was an atheist and developed advanced ideas. In many ways, Belinsky was the founder of literary criticism. He established new canons in the understanding of poetry and prose. Belinsky set the vector for the development of literary creativity as a kind of political mechanism capable of influencing the thinking of the people.
The idea of Vissarion Belinsky that labor ennobles a person was taken as a basis by the ideologies of socialist realism and began to be developed in the rightdirection.
On labor in a socialist state
The man of labor in the USSR was a state fetish. The propaganda of shock construction projects was in full swing: on the radio and on television in the Vremya program they broadcast news about the pace and progress of work. BAM, Dneproges and other projects took the lion's share of attention and propaganda. The state needed a lot of inexpensive labor to build the largest industrial facilities.
More than that. The movement "Shock worker of socialist labor" developed. Issued and presented awards - orders and medals. All over the world then the names of famous miners, combine operators, milkmaids thundered. Their names were immortalized in paintings, films were made about them and books were written. The one who said "Work ennobles a person" did a great job, contributed to the political life of the country.
Attitude towards parasitism
It has become fashionable to use the word "parasite". This was a man who officially did not work anywhere. Now he would be called a freelancer. Moreover, an article was provided for parasitism in the legislation of the country, which was followed by administrative and judicial pen alties.
That is, there was a cult of labor. It was a shame not to work. In certain years, raids were even carried out in the USSR by detachments of voluntary people's squads (DND), which "sought out" parasites during the working day in cinemas, squares and other places.
And with huge posters andruddy winners of socialist competitions, symbols of five-year plans, shock workers and heroes of Komsomol construction projects smiled at the people on the TV screens. Such work in the society created by the socialist revolution really made a person noble. And in his own eyes, and, more importantly, in the eyes of the conscious public!
Many other sayings about labor are known. For example, A. Blok: he says that the word "labor" is written on the revolutionary banner. Work is sacred, it gives people the opportunity to live, educates character.
I. Aivazovsky said that for him to live means to work. He also wrote about the ease that can be obtained by "hard work".
On labor in general
But what really? Equalization, low labor costs, difficult conditions or an incredible race in pursuit of records. This is what the "medal" looks like from the back side.
M. Gorky has a quote in which he claims that if work is a pleasure, then life is also good. And if to work is a necessity, then the existence of a person turns into slavery. This point of view is very humane. She would be a serious competitor to the words of Belinsky in our time.
From the point of view of physiology and psychology, it is natural for a person to want to develop. It is inherent in it by nature. Labor is a good helper in this. But it is noticed that if the work is a burden, the result will be negative. From year to year, doing what they don’t like, people experience colossalpsychological overload. And the body reacts with diseases and depressions.
Can slave labor ennoble anyone? Of course, hobbies come to the rescue. It saves a lot of people from extreme deeds. But in general, work, as violence against oneself, is contrary to human nature. And you can't "argue" against it without consequences. All statements about work fade before he alth problems and mental illness.
Ennoblement by labor
If you do what you love, you can get out of the habit of saying the word "work". If you give a person the opportunity to find himself, his profession or direction of activity, he can be transformed. The phrase "work ennobles a person", the meaning of which was previously incomprehensible, immediately takes on its direct meaning.
Doing what they love, people tend to know more about it. They want to acquire new skills and abilities. The human intellect, his soul develops. There is a saying among the people: "If you don't want to work, find a job you love." The truth lies in this. Work ennobles a person when it pushes him to self-development.
Vissarion Belinsky, of course, did not know in what context history would use his statement. But it is believed that he had in mind the work that a person does with pleasure, for himself. From which he can receive not only material benefits, but also deep moral satisfaction.
Many great poets, writers, politicians understood this. Here are some more examples (as laborennobles) sayings of great people.
Oh. Balzac wrote about labor as a permanent law of life and art.
B. Weitling said that the two essential conditions of social life are work and enjoyment.
F. Voltaire said that to live is also to work, and that human life consists of labor.
Work is the meaning of life?
What is the meaning of life and what to do - the eternal questions that torment the minds of thinking people. From the foregoing, it becomes clear that you need to look for a job you like. If this happens, it will be interesting for a person to wake up every morning in order to get to work sooner. He will develop and become a qualitatively different person! The question of degradation will disappear by itself, there will be no drunkenness and parasitism. As a reward for such work, the universe will respond with good he alth and material well-being.
It is believed that when a person is in harmony with himself, he succeeds. The task of parents and the state is to arrange everything in such a way that children from an early age are interested in many things and determine their future choice. In no case should you impose your unfulfilled dreams on "children"!
This is the meaning of life - to raise happy people who can work and develop (ennoble). But not in labor alone.
