Nonetheless, about two of every three Americans say that people are assigning undue religious significance to the change of the millennium. Generation Xers are more likely than elderly people to believe that the end of the millennium bears spiritual importance. Just 51 percent of college students pierced a body part last year, down from 57 percent in 1998. Whatever . . . . More than ever we live in a world ruled by the demands of productivity, the demands of work.
Every human enterprise is increasingly subject to the scrutiny of the balance sheet.
Rest, vacations, breaks are acknowledged necessities, but only as unfortunate requirements for continued productivity. Consequently, free time, no matter how ample, is not so much a leisured alternative to work as its diastolic continuation. Richard Kimball in The New Criterion, January 1999, quoted by Martin Marty in Context, January 1999. We'd love to hear from you. Permission is granted to make and distribute verbatim copies of this article for educational purposes provided this permission notice, and the copyright notice below are preserved on all copies.