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By Barbara EhrenreichThe Cult of Busyness

Barbara Ehrenreich

About the Author67 years oldBorn August 26, 1941Isabelle Oxley and Ben AlexanderPh. D in Cell Biology Rockefeller UniversityWriterColumnistFeministSocialistPolitical activist

About the AuthorWrites on social topicsSocial criticism 14 booksNickel and Dimed: On (Not) Getting by in America New York Times BestsellerColumnist at New York Times and Time MagazineLives near Key West Florida Inside The Cult

Being busy = being successful

No more hobbys, but more than one career

Men attracted to busy successful women

True Success

Path-breaking scientists, best-selling novelists, and designers of new major software Not busy No To Do listsAnything worth doing is worth doing wellBusiest people will never be successful Waitress Success = surviving the shift

Social ExperimentNickel and Dimed from the American Ruling ClassIs it worth it?Busyness does not lead to successSuccess can cause busynessBusyness = less time for worthwhile activitiesCome so far to lose everything worthwhileCritical Thinking QuestionsSuccess in United States culture is becoming more and more dependent on personal image. It doesnt matter whether youre any good at what you do as long as you say youre good at what you do and look and dress the part. Do you agree or disagree with this statement?

Over the past twenty years, the media have devoted considerable attention to Americans who are too busy to pause for breath. Yet it is likely that these career-fixated, time-obsessed people are still a distinct minority. The majority still follow the example of Homer Simpson: come home at 5:30, eat supper, and watch television. What have you observed about people and their attitudes toward work? Have you noticed any differences between the way women approach this issue of work versus leisure time and the way men do?Tyler Durden: The things you own end up owning you.Tyler Durden: It's only after we've lost everything that we're free to do anything. Tyler Durden: Do you know what a duvet is?Narrator: It's a comforter...Tyler Durden: It's a blanket. Just a blanket. Now why do guys like you and me know what a duvet is? Is this essential to our survival, in the hunter-gatherer sense of the word? No. What are we then?Narrator: ...Consumers?Tyler Durden: Right. We are consumers. We're the bi-products of a lifestyle obsession.

Obsessed with Busy LifestyleTyler Durden on Modern SocietyFight Club and The Cult of BusynessVocabularyPastime -agreeable activityMonologue long speech by one actorTribulations cause of sufferingIngestion - absorb something into bodyDistractable attention easily caughtFey irrational; supernaturalIncorrigible unable to be corrected or changedConspicuous attracting attention

More VocabularyUpwardly mobile aspiring to higher classInsignia official symbolNeurosurgery operation on nervous systemUpscale - expensiveFeminization make something suitable for womenShiftily - resourcefully Dispersion distribution of values Demeanor outward behaviorAdage a sayingEven More VocabularySlovenly - an offensive term meaning not concerned about conventional standards of personal hygiene and tidinessAcumen sharpness of mind