Spectatoritis

by Jay B. Nash, Christopher Fennell (Editor)

Published in 1938, Nash laments that while machines have opened up more significant amounts of leisure time for the country's citizenry, people use that time for increasingly passive and monotonous theater. He dubs this plague "spectatoritis," warning that it will bring about the downfall of civilization if not curbed. For, he argues, every human needs natural rejuvenation from work or will succumb to various mental and physical ills., Nash writes that we need a "philosophy of leisure" that can guide people to use their spare time in more fulfilling ways.Out of print for decades, Nash's work is being brought back in the modern age, a time when his words are needed the most.

84 pages, Kindle Edition

First published January 1, 1937

Reviews

[Todd · Rating 3 out of 5]

The author was writing at the dawn of the age of the machine, and his concern was what Americans would do with all of the newfound leisure time created by the mechanization of life. Rather than use our time to engage in enriching activities, Nash feared we would become a nation of spectators content to check our brains with our hats and allow our radios or our motion pictures to drain our lives of meaningful purpose.

The old boy was right. Or, boy was he right. And he didn't even know about what would happen with sporting events and the Internet and cable television. I saw a discussion of this book on a blog and found a copy from an online bookseller. (I couldn't locate a copy on Gutenberg or Google.) It really is an old book that is worth a second look. Certainly this thing must be out of copyright. This one needs to be digitized and rediscovered.

[Drewes · Rating 3 out of 5]

With the upcoming AI again somewhat relevant. But gets quite repetitive that you should get your ass going instead of laying back and watch it all happen.