ABSTRACT
But this burden of ‘costly’ work, required of the producer and adjusted to his powers, is not the only work that he can do. The main object of the shorter work-day and the better apportionment of ‘costly’ labour, as we have already recognised, is to liberate the individual so that he has time and energy for the voluntary performance of ‘productive’ activities that are ‘costless/ interesting and beneficial to his personal life. Some of these voluntary activities will be ‘economic’ in the sense that they may produce goods or services which have an exchange value. Such is the gardening or the wood-carving which a man may do in his spare time. Though it may bring him a direct return of personal gain and satisfaction that is non-economic, it may also be a supplementary means of income. There is no reason why a man whose hobby is his garden should not be able to exchange some of the fruit and flowers, which it has been a pleasure for for him to grow, for the photographs or the bookbindings on which his neighbours may prefer to spend a portion of their leisure. Most of the spare energy or leisure, however, won for the worker by a fair distribution of ‘costly’ labour, will, of course, usually be applied to personal employments, to the arts of home life and of society, which, though highly conducive to personal efficiency, lie outside the range of ‘economics.’ Each person would apply this free time and energy differently, his voluntary work having some natural relation as ‘relief’ or ‘variety’ to the sort of ‘costly’ or routine labour which earned his livelihood. Thus on this true equalitarian basis there would arise an immense variety of freely active personalities. Each person would have what may be called a personal standard of production, an orderly application of his productive energies, which, though partly imposed by his status as a member of society bound to do his share in social work, would largely represent his personal tastes, choices and interests, selfish or altruistic, according to his temperament.
