One of the most popular activities in non-industrial societies: doing nothing
As appears in Debt by David Graeber [0]:<p>Missionary: Look at you! You’re just wasting your life away, lying around like that.<p>Samoan: Why? What do you think I should be doing?<p>Missionary: Well, there are plenty of coconuts all around here. Why not dry some copra and sell it?<p>Samoan: And why would I want to do that?<p>Missionary: You could make a lot of money. And with the money you make, you could get a drying machine, and dry copra faster, and make even more money.<p>Samoan: Okay. And why would I want to do that?<p>Missionary: Well, you’d be rich. You could buy land, plant more trees, expand operations. At that point, you wouldn’t even have to do the physical work anymore, you could just hire a bunch of other people to do it for you.<p>Samoan: Okay. And why would I want to do that?<p>Missionary: Well, eventually, with all that copra, land, machines, employees, with all that money—you could retire a very rich man. And then you wouldn’t have to do anything. You could just lie on the beach all day.<p>[0]: <a href="https:&#x2F;&#x2F;timothynoah.substack.com&#x2F;p&#x2F;the-guy-who-explained-what-money?s=r" rel="nofollow">https:&#x2F;&#x2F;timothynoah.substack.com&#x2F;p&#x2F;the-guy-who-explained-wha...</a>