Have you ever read "The Chronicles of Narnia" or come across this quote about work/slavery?

[jtuck004]

“But one of the worst results of being a slave and being forced to do things is that when there is no one to force you any more you find you have almost lost the power of forcing yourself.”

― C.S. Lewis, The Horse and His Boy

Do you think there is anything to it? I see it in people periodically, but I was thinking about it in the context of today, in which many people are being forced into all sorts of work, and especially those repeatedly being forced into searching for work (a loathsome task) and finding none, to the point that they simply lose the ability to do more...

We're not slaves in one sense, but there are several meanings and types of slavery, such as bonded slavery, forced labor, slavery by descent, etc, but in the context of today, many people are being forced to live lives they never thought they would have to. So I was curious to see what you thought about the quote.

[Igel]

1. It's a recurring thought in some works of literature.

If your entire life all you've ever done is stuff that you're forced to do, what do you do when you're not forced?


You find that all your "self-discipline" was imposed from without, and you have no internal drive, no actual self-discipline or motivation.


Yeah, I think it can happen. You still do stuff. But you have no self-control or self-discipline to do things that are in the least unpleasant, nor the ability to make difficult (or even slightly difficult) choices. I've seen people like that after leaving a church, widows or divorcees in the same pickle, and kids who moved away from home sort of flounder.

Heck, Russia in the '90s might be fall under that heading.

[bhikkhu]

2. Its one of the balancing acts of parenthood as well

Do you force the kids to do the chores, their homework, hygiene, etc, at the risk of them developing no self discipline of their own? Or do you explain what they need to do and why, and then let them succeed or fail according to their own efforts?

In the first case they are learning nothing but servitude, how to follow orders. Perhaps that's desired of a slave or a servant, but the expectation of a child is that they would, at some point, succeed in independent life. In the second case they are building their own standards and understandings of how to live a life well. Of course, the second method can fail miserably for a long time, as the seldom-seen bedroom floor of my younger daughter would attest. Explaining good sense and good habits hasn't had the desired effect yet.

[Tumbulu]

3. Yes, as a parent I struggle with this as well

since when they are small, habits and what is "normal" gets established. Simple things like brushing teeth before going to bed, sleeping at night vs at any or all times tired, putting things away after using/playing with them.

Routines become normal behavior. But practicing an instrument, reading regularly, helping with chores...oh my this is the hard stuff around here.

[Major Nikon]

4. It pretty much encapsulates my philosophy of parenting

My idea of parenting is to make my kids self reliant to the maximum extent possible. To me, this means encouraging them to question why and demanding reasonable answers. It also means they have to be self motivated. In order to teach this I allow my kids considerable latitude with a lot of different things, but the flip side of that is they have to understand there are consequences, both positive and negative, for their actions.

My dad (a Unitarian minister) was a big fan of C.S. Lewis and had many of his books that influenced me when I was young. Here's another interesting quote from C.S. Lewis:

Cruel ages are put on their guard against Sentimentality, feckless and idle ones against Respectability, lecherous ones against Puritanism; and whenever all men are really hastening to be slaves or tyrants we make Liberalism the prime bogey.

To fully understand this quote (and the one you mentioned), you have to understand a bit about C.S. Lewis. This quote comes from The Screwtape Letters in which a lesser demon was receiving letters from a more senior demon on how to corrupt a human. He was most certainly a Christian, but not in the right wing social/economic conservative stripe that we think of Christians today. At least to some extent, Lewis believed that demoniacally influenced sin was present in the minds of everyone which inevitably turned people into slaves and tyrants working against collectivism which he saw as divinely benevolent.

[dionysus]

5. hey, nice post.