Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1956-11-05
By HOWARD WHITMAN

III IAlC IOP OIdWCE Oh my u6Skl
I keep a little folder which a
friend gave me printed up tol
look like a pamphlet. On the
outside cover is the title, How
To Make Money" And when you
open it to see what's inside, three
words stare out at you in big
black type: GO TO WORK.
Such = simple statement be-
comes, quite a gag these days
because for so many people who
want to make money-and des-
perately-going to work as al
means toward that end is one of
the last procedures which enters
the mind.
Work is pretty well established
in our culture as something to bel
avoided. But that doesn't apply
to the rewards. A paraphraSe Of
the old Civil War strategy does
seem to apply: we want to get
the mosteSt for the leastest.
We have turned the genius Of
our drawing boards and factories
to the creation of labor Saving
devices Of every kind: we have
put our sociological brains to the
task of producing leisure. leisure,
and more leisure; we have short
ened the day, cut down the work,
and made it a sin Of the first
psychiatric and sociological mag
nitude to require any Individual
to take the slightest overdose Of
that horrible potion known as
toll.
Work Medicine
We have eminently succeeded.
We have done so well. in fact.
that in some instances we even
have overshot the mark and de-
veloped a breed Of people who
get mired down in the leisure Of
it all (their emotions begin toI
run wild, as it were. from an
overdose of idleness). and to get
them well again we have to pre-
scribe "occupational therapy"-
in other words, work medicine. ;"
II is amazing that we should
have come by such a round
about way to a knowledge of
mans relationship to work, a re-
lationship which was well UNDER
stood by wise individuals hum
dreds Of years before us. 1t was
Samuel Johnson. in the 18th
century, who wrote, Labor, If i'll
were not necessary to the exist
ence. would be indispensable toI
the happiness of man."
We have added so many terms
to the psychiatric lexicon in
the past two decades that I see
no harm in adding another. Il
should like to suggest the free
load complex" as an addendumI
to the nosology. 1t would apply
to those individuals who dill
gently avoid all work or SEM
blance of it and are so success
full at this that they eventually
become sick.
Work, even with its irksome-
ness and unpleasant aspects. is
a basic need. Man cannot live
on sugar alone: he must also
: have sailor die. Nor can he
live on fun and pleasure; they
must be leavened by hardship
and work.
Why this should be. one must
ask the Original Designer. Yet
each of us has an inner inkling
(perhaps the presence Of the
Creator within his creation)
that work is good for us: we
know this in the glow we feel
after a Job well done, however
difficult.
Ships Sailed In
Many people excuse their lack
Of interest in hard work by con-
vincing themselves that some
day their ship will come in and
all there is to do in the mean
time is wait. AS any mariner
knows. ships don't just come in;
they are sailed in. And the price
Of the safe harbor is the storm
and the hurricane and the
mountainous swell, the hours at
the helm. the careful plotting Of
the course. and the round-the-
clock vigil at sea. This-not
waiting-is what makes a ship
come in.
Perhaps now that the era Of
something for nothing seems to
be waning. work will come back
into its own again and more and
more people viii recognize the
fundamental truth that the only
real Joy one can experience is
Joy which has been earned.
When you get something you
have 1t, but when you earn It
you own 1t. For work is a pouring
out Of ourselves, and when we
pour ourselves into that upon
which we labor 1t becomes, by
the very act, a part Of us.
In these days Of big money
and fast-won fortunes - for
example. the amazing new world
Of television with its 10-miIllon-
dollar contracts for comedians
there Is tendency to feel that
hard work alone is not enough
but only some rare and magical
quality known as ''luck' or an
other one called genius" can
deliver the goods.
As for luck. probably the most
insightful thing ever said about
It was the statement Of q south
ern Negro on his farm: I'm
always luckiest with the potatoes
I hoe the most"
IS Pet. Hard Work
As for genius. Thomas Edison
acknowledged that 1t probably
did exist. but Of the whole OF
accomplishment he said. 1.-TWO
per cent is genius and 90 per cent
is hard work"