Emilien Long, Nobel laureate in economics, presents himself as the “Candidate of laziness” in the presidential election. His program: leaving a “Morbid productivism” by reducing working time to three hours a day. “I am the voice of those who want life to be more than work, growth, consumption”, argues this Marseillais, who wears espadrilles and sometimes speaks from his hammock. If he is no other than a fictional character – from Hadrien Klent’s latest novel, Laziness for all (Le Tripode, 360 pages, 19 euros) – Emilien Long could be chosen by some of the youth in search of free time. In a brief way of struggle, its policy responds to real expectations, halfway between utopia and pragmatism.
After two years of pandemic which upset our benchmarks and permanently changed the organization of work, the desire to find meaning is accompanied more than ever by a desire to slow down, to find oneself. This is evidenced by the “after-workless” aperitifs organized in Nantes by the Travailler less collective. Unemployment chosen – and not suffered – early retirement, through a simple reduction of his working time, all options are considered to lift the head of the handlebars.
On this Tuesday in October, fifteen young people gathered in the La Cordée sur Erdre coworking space, three minutes from the Loire-Atlantique prefecture. In the middle of the kayaks and deckchairs that adorn this Haussmann apartment, we stuff butter croissants at 7 pm, with still work to do. “Why / for what de-work? “; “How to de-work? “; “Brakes and obstacles to de-working”: everyone moves from table to table to develop both individual and collective thinking.
“Frugalist annuitants”
“De-working means voluntarily reducing your constrained working time, without exploiting that of others, introduces Matthieu Fleurance, 30, co-founder member of the collective. We want to move towards a de-commodification of time and rethink our lifestyles, in an anti-capitalist, even post-capitalist movement. “. “Non-billionaire early retiree” as he likes to define himself, the 30-something advocates a form of radicalism and personal degrowth – against the “Frugalist rentiers” which rely on financial or real estate investments.
Son of a butcher and an office worker at La Poste, Matthieu Fleurance joined very early on “The culture of the economy”. “Until I was 25, I saved to death without knowing why”, he recounts. Today, the Nantes resident has 30,000 euros aside and receives the active solidarity income (RSA), which he considers “As a basic income”. According to his calculations, he only needs 500 to 600 euros per month to live: “And I never deprive myself, he specifies. I don’t go through this stuff. I make myself a restaurant when I want. “
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