Friday, September 07, 2007

The real purpose!

Walls and billboards were plastered with posters depicting scenes of happiness and prosperity. Splashed across them in fluorescent lettering were slogans such as:

TIMESAVERS ARE GOING PLACES FAST!
THE FUTURE BELONGS TO TIMESAVERS!
MAKE MORE OF YOUR LIFE - SAVE TIME!


The real picture, however, was very different. Admittedly, timesavers were better dressed... They earned more money and had more to spend, but they looked tired, disgruntled and sour, and there was an unfriendly light in their eyes... In their view even leisure time had to be used to the full, so as to extract the maximum of entertainment and relaxation with the minimum of delay.

Whatever the occasion, whether solemn or joyous, timesavers could no longer celebrate it properly...

It had ceased to matter that people should enjoy their work and take pride in it; on the contrary, enjoyment merely slowed them down. All that mattered was to get through as much work as possible in the shortest possible time...

Michael Ende's "Momo", p. 66-7

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