Leisure that ensures freedom!

“ Employ thy time well if thou meanest to gain leisure. ”
— Benjamin Franklin 

This quote that I came across reminded me about an article I read a while back about the Rule of Leisure, by Oliver DeMille.  It is found at: http://archive.aweber.com/socialleaders/1jr7B/h/Monthly_Newsletter_The_Rule.html.


I have included below some excerpts from this truly amazing talk.  I especially like the following:We think of our prosperity as a birthright, rather than a hard-won privilege entailed with the duty to improve the world and pass on something better to posterity. 
He addresses the fact that we cannot have freedom in our nation without responsible "leisure".  The article is amazing.  Please read and be inspired to help ensure the freedom of this great nation by starting today to read the great books of civilization that helped to shape our country!

Great Books: start with "classics", discuss them with someone;  find someone you admire, ask them what classics they would recommend.  You can find great, society-shaping books all around amidst the fluff (although the fluff is sometimes definitely enjoyable!)


"By some measures, leisure is the defining characteristic of society. How we use our leisure, who gets to engage in leisure, and how many in society are able to enjoy leisure--these are the determinants of civilizational progress..
How people use their leisure time has a direct, lasting, and nearly immediate impact on society.
  The aristocratic nations learned this lesson over time: If those with leisure turn to mere entertainment, the society declines and collapses...
When the leaders of a nation (the leadership class which has leisure time) use their leisure for self-centered things rather than improving the society, their moral authority to rule decreases and the nation declines...


"That noblesse oblige is forgotten today, that our citizens in the middle class in general (with a very few energetic and vocal exceptions) have neglected to use our advantages for the protection of freedom and prosperity and to fulfill our role as the overseers of government, is the reason for the decline of the middle-class standard of living since 1975--and its potential collapse in the decades ahead. 

The belief in using our leisure mostly for ourselves is widespread. Like slavery and discrimination, this belief is contrary to the laws that govern societal success, and every historical nation that lived by this belief suffered dire consequences.
  Like some young offspring of the very wealthy, as a nation we seem to think freedom is more about rights than responsibilities and prosperity is more about license to pursue pleasure than using leisure to serve.   We think of our prosperity as a birthright, rather than a hard-won privilege entailed with the duty to improve the world and pass on something better to posterity.   This is a mistake often made by nations with unsophisticated or young leisure classes, and America's last three generations (Boomers, born 1945-1964; Generation X, born 1964-1984; and Millennials, born 1984-2005) are the first classically un-educated American leisure class.   Throughout history, an education for a future leader meant studying the great books, and being part of the leisure class as a citizen meant reading the great books throughout adult life. 
I remain optimistic, however. The great books are on our shelves, and the lessons of history are there for us all.
  We just have to read, listen and apply.   Our freedoms came in a specific way, one forgotten to all except those who read the great books and histories."