Attractive Labour
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Author : Charles Fourier

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Source: The History Guide;Translated: by Julia Franklin, and published as
Selections from the Works of Fourier. 

    In the civilized mechanism we find everywhere composite unhappiness
instead of
    composite charm. Let us judge of it by the case of labor. It is, says
the Scripture very
    justly, a punishment of man: Adam and his issue are condemned to earn
their bread by the
    sweat of their brow. That, already, is an affliction; but this labor,
this ungrateful
    labor upon which depends the earning of our miserable bread, we cannot
even get it! a
    laborer lacks the labor upon which his maintenance depends – he asks
in vain for a
    tribulation! He suffers a second, that of obtaining work at times whose
fruit is his
    master’s and not his, or of being employed in duties to which he is
entirely
    unaccustomed.. . . The civilized laborer suffers a third affliction
through the maladies
    with which he is generally stricken by the excess of labor demanded by
his master. 
    He suffers a fifth affliction, that of being despised and treated as a
beggar because
    he lacks those necessaries which he consents to purchase by the anguish
of repugnant
    labor. He suffers, finally, a sixth affliction, in that he will obtain
neither advancement
    nor sufficient wages, and that to the vexation of present suffering is
added the
    perspective of future suffering, and of being sent to the gallows
should he demand that
    labor which he may lack to-morrow.
    Labor, nevertheless, forms the delight of various creatures, such as
beavers, bees,
    wasps, ants, which are entirely at liberty to prefer inertia: but God
has provided them
    with a social mechanism which attracts to industry, and causes
happiness to be found in
    industry. Why should he not have accorded us the same favor as these
animals? What a
    difference between their industrial condition and ours! A Russian, an
Algerian, work from
    fear of the lash or the bastinado; an Englishman, a Frenchman, from
fear of the famine
    which stalks close to his poor household; the Greeks and the Romans,
whose freedom has
    been vaunted to us, worked as slaves, and from fear of punishment, like
the Negroes in the
    colonies to-day.
    Associative labor, in order to exert a strong attraction upon people,
will have to
    differ in every particular from the repulsive conditions which render
it so odious in the
    existing state of things. It is necessary, in order that it become
attractive, that
    associative labor fulfill the following seven conditions: 

1. That every laborer be a partner, remunerated by dividends and not by
wages. 
    2. That every one, man, woman, or child, be remunerated in proportion
to the three
    faculties, capital, labor, and talent. 
    3. That the industrial sessions be varied about eight times a day, it
being impossible to
    sustain enthusiasm longer than an hour and a half or two hours in the
exercise of
    agricultural or manufacturing labor. 
    4. That they be carried on by bands of friends, united spontaneously,
interested and
    stimulated by very active rivalries. 
    5. That the workshops and husbandry offer the laborer the allurements
of elegance and
    cleanliness. 
    6. That the division of labor be carried to the last degree, so that
each sex and age may
    devote itself to duties that are suited to it. 
    7. That in this distribution, each one, man, woman, or child, be in
full enjoyment of the
    right to labor or the right to engage in such branch of labor as they
may please to
    select, provided they give proof of integrity and ability. 
    Finally, that, in this new order, people possess a guarantee of
well-being, of a
    minimum sufficient for the present and the future, and that this
guarantee free them from
    all uneasiness concerning themselves and their families. 
    We find all these properties combined in the associative mechanism,
whose discovery I
    make public.
    In order to attain happiness, it is necessary to introduce it into the
labors which
    engage the greater part of our lives. Life is a long torment to one who
pursues
    occupations without attraction. Morality teaches us to love work: let
it know, then, how
    to render work lovable, and, first of all, let it introduce luxury
into, husbandry and the
    workshop. If the arrangements are poor, repulsive, how arouse
industrial attraction? 
    In work, as in pleasure, variety is evidently the desire of nature. Any
enjoyment
    prolonged, without interruption, beyond two hours, conduces to satiety,
to abuse, blunts
    our faculties, and exhausts pleasure. A repast of four hours will not
pass off without
    excess; an opera of four hours will end by cloying the spectator.
Periodical variety is a
    necessity of the body and of the soul, a necessity in all nature; even
the soil requires
    alteration of seeds, and seed alteration of soil. The stomach will soon
reject the best
    dish if it be offered every day, and the soul will be blunted in the
exercise of any
    virtue if it be not relieved by some other virtue. 
    If there is need of variety in pleasure after indulging in it for two
hours, so much
    the more does labor require this diversity, which is continual in the
associative state,
    and is guaranteed to the poor as well as the rich. 
    The chief source of lightheartedness among Harmonians is the frequent
change of
    sessions. Life is a perpetual torment to our workmen, who are obliged
to spend twelve, and
    frequently fifteen, consecutive hours in some tedious labor. Even
ministers are not
    exempt; we find some of them complain of having passed an entire day in
the stupefying
    task of affixing signatures to thousands of official vouchers. Such
wearisome duties are
    unknown in the associative order; the Harmonians, who devote an hour,
an hour and a half,
    or at most two hours, to the different sessions, and who, in these
short sessions, are
    sustained by cabalistic impulses and by friendly union with selected
associates, cannot
    fail to bring and to find cheerfulness everywhere. 
    The radical evil of our industrial system is the employment of the
laborer in a single
    occupation, which runs the risk of coming to a stand-still. The fifty
thousand workmen of
    Lyons who are beggars to-day (besides fifty thousand women and
children), would be
    scattered over two or three hundred phalanxes, which would make silk
their principal
    article of manufacture, and which would not be thrown out by a year or
two of stagnation
    in that branch of industry. If at the end of that time their factory
should fail
    completely, they would start one of a different kind, without having
stopped work, without
    ever making their daily subsistence dependent upon a continuation or
suspension of outside
    orders.
    In a progressive series all the groups acquire so much the more skill
in that their
    work is greatly subdivided, and that every member engages only in the
kind in which he
    professes to excel. The heads of the Series, spurred on to study by
rivalry, bring to
    their work the knowledge of a student of the first rank. The
subordinates are inspired
    with an ardor which laughs at all obstacles, and with a fanaticism for
the maintenance of
    the honor of the Series against rival districts. In the heat of action
they accomplish
    what seems humanly impossible, like the French grenadiers who scaled
the rocks of Mahon,
    and who, upon the day following, were unable, in cold blood, to clamber
up the rock which
    they had assailed under the fire of the enemy. Such are the progressive
Series in their
    work; every obstacle vanishes before the intense pride which dominates
them; they would
    grow angry at the word impossible, and the most daunting kinds of
labor, such as
    managing the soil, are to them the lightest of sports. If we could
to-day behold an
    organized district, behold at early dawn thirty industrial groups issue
in state from the
    palace of the Phalanx, and spread themselves over the fields and the
workshops, waving
    their banners with cries of triumph and impatience, we should think we
were gazing at
    bands of madmen intent upon putting the neighboring districts to fire
and sword. Such will
    he the athletes who will take the place of our mercenary and languid
workmen, and who will
    succeed in making ambrosia and nectar grow upon a soil which yields
only briers and tares
    to the feeble hands of the civilized.


     From : Marxists.org

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     Attractive Labour -- Added : February 19, 2021

     Attractive Labour -- Updated : January 07, 2022

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