The Principles of Economics, with Applications to Practical ProblemsFetter, Frank A. (Frank Albert)
General
The Principles of Economics, with Applications to Practical Problems
Fetter, Frank A. (Frank Albert)
Economics
3. _The intelligence of the worker is affected by the form of his
enjoyments._ This does not refer to the use made of spare time for
regular study in night schools, correspondence schools, vacation work,
but to the use of time when seeking recreation. The choice of recreation
reacts upon the nature of the man. Will he read a book or play
billiards? In proper proportions both may be good, in excess both are
evil. Liking realism, does he read Howells or the blood-curdling serial
entitled "Piping the Mystery"? Does he devote his spare hours to the
"Scientific American" or to the "Police Gazette"? At the moment there
may be as much pleasure in one as in the other (and one might add, in
Hibernian phrase, "Yes, and more too."). Does he enjoy music, the
theater, or the cheaper attractions of Coney Island and the Bowery? Is
his recreation permeated with a certain intellectual ambition? There may
be just as much momentary joy in one choice as in another, and life is
shaped by the direction of one's enjoyments. Much depends on the natural
bent; some natures incline to the healthy as the plant grows toward the
sun. With most characters much depends on the influences of neighborhood
life; thus the boy's clubs and college settlements of the cities, the
schools and playgrounds of the villages, are tending to surround child
life with healthier conditions, that will mould it into better social
habits.
[Sidenote: Reaction upon the character]
4. _The form of the worker's expenditures affects his industrial
virtues._ This is not a moral lecture; it is a look at the economic side
of the subject. There are some moral qualities, however, that are
closely connected with efficiency, while others are not. Some
individuals are corrupt in private personal relations, but "square" in
business dealings. But usually there is some connection between the two,
and under modern conditions this is becoming closer. Fitness for daily
tasks is affected by the daily thoughts of the worker. Sordid and foul
thoughts, like an internal malady, sap the economic efficiency of the
worker; clean, bright thoughts act as a tonic. Drink, gambling, fast
living, unfit men for positions of trust, while many pastimes leave the
moral nature cleaner and stronger. Few can live a double
life--honorable, conscientious, and exact in one part of the day, and
corrupt in another. Dr. Jekylls and Mr. Hydes are not often found in
real life. The habitual train of thought in leisure hours possesses and
controls the man throughout his work. It is said that "A man is what his
work makes him," but it is equally true that a man's work tends to
become what he is. A man fit for a higher kind of work rises to it in
the usual order of things; but no matter how humble the task, it
partakes of the worth and wholesomeness of its doer.
§ III. EFFECTS ON THE ABIDING WELFARE OF THE CONSUMER
[Sidenote: Production vs. welfare]
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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