Kobayashi Issa, "Napped half the day"

It's been a month. Really feeling this haiku by Issa: "Napped half the day; / no one / punished me!"

Napped half the day (from Modern American Poetry)
Kobayashi Issa (tr. Robert Hass)

Napped half the day;
no one
punished me!

This country is a study in extremes. All of us work insane hours in order to live. I've had a number of jobs where it was impossible to escape anything work-related, and it was worse when I was unemployed. Lacking a job often means panic, no network, the absence of those who can show you how to do things, a lack of support, incessant guilt, and paranoia. "Napped half the day" vividly illustrates both non-stop work–you will collapse!–and the neglect of those not invited to do even that.

Which raises the question: Was it like this in other ages? I mean, we are constantly in motion primarily as a function of oligarchy. If we were given healthcare or adequate wages or reasonable hours, we would threaten the billionaire class which has convinced so many that they aren't thieves. It does seem like we belong to a feudal order, where the rich and landed with their extravagant titles can only be failed, but never themselves fail.

I do believe other ages were different. Working to this degree was unimaginable in America not so long ago. With regard to pre-industrial Japan, a world where people could wander, observe each other, and write poetry was restricted to a few. There were plenty of brutal labor conditions then, too. But it's just the idea that thinking and poetry were worth appreciating, that they were vital, which grips me. There's so much we don't call work. There's so much we snidely consider the equivalent of "Napped half the day."

In that spirit, I am transfixed by Issa's declaration that "no one / punished [him]." It does suggest that our world and Issa's are very alike. However, it also raises the larger question of why anyone would value a life based only on effort and productivity. Of course, the premodern world is not thrilled with laziness. Some people want to put on airs of dissent and complain all the time in order to avoid doing anything. To be sure, plenty do this nowadays, too. I do think the premodern world more readily identifies the dishonesty and manipulation regarding certain people saying "I could do the work but choose not to."

On the other hand, we simply punish for not doing the work. Good habits and virtues are ignored because people refuse to have their entire lives eaten up by others' whims. It isn't just the rich who command obeisance. Anyone with a half-assed, not terribly examined moral claim can guilt others into doing untold amounts of labor. We don't ask why people may not work. We assume they are lazy and immoral.

It's worth remembering that a number of holidays are sacred. That you stop working because the gods are owed respect. That life is not merely functioning for what society claims it is. I don't know that I'll nap half the day anytime soon. But I am deeply grateful for the naps I do get.