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Clive Hamilton on radical slowness.

Article Excerpt
In Praise of Slow by Carl Honore Orion Trade $49.95

In Indonesia it's called jam karet, 'rubber time', and in South America they say manana, meaning 'later', or at some indeterminate time. It is infuriating for Westerners when they come up against this languid approach to life. It's inefficient, irrational and prevents proper planning. It's just downright slack. But you only have to watch the agitated Westerner railing at the serene or puzzled Indonesian or Mexican official to understand the health benefits of taking things slowly.

While we tend to think that this approach to time divides the West from the Third World, in fact it divides pre-industrial from industrial societies. In the early decades of the industrial revolution in Europe, it was common to see the peasantry attacked for its indolence. It was an aspect of what Marx referred...