DISCIPLINE FOR DAILY LIFE

"Discipline for Daily Life" Essay is a part of The Conduct Of Life. Book by Lewis
Mumford. This | essay is a part of CHAPTER IX - THE WAY AND | THE LIFE ( Page
No.244) under the content of ! chapter 8 named Discipline for Daily Life on the page
number 281.
The Conduct Of Life Book by Lewis Mumford | consist of similar multiple topic
compiled in the form I of chapters. This Essay is one of the part of the same book.

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Each one of us must nd and work out for himself the ways in which
he must modify his life, so as to achieve balance and self-direction,
make the fullest use of his potentialities, and so contribute to the gen-
eral renewal of life. There is no single formula for achieving this
transformation; for the intellectual, so far from needing a balanced
diet of the “hundred best books,” often needs rather a sti turn at
manual toil or the assumption of active political responsibilities in his
community, or in thought itself intensive study in some neglected
domain.

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 Complete Explanation

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Each person needs to gure out how to change their life in a way that helps them
nd balance, take control of their direction, use their abilities to the fullest, and
contribute to improving life in general. There isn't one speci c method for this
transformation. For example, someone who's intellectual might bene t from doing
physical work or getting involved in local politics, or even diving deep into studying
a subject that hasn't received much attention. It's about nding what works best
for you to grow and make a positive impact.

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Similarly the manual worker needs to push his mind far harder
than he has yet learned: to devote himself to ideas as determinedly as
that mid-Victorian British worker who, not being able to buy Ruskin’s
works, copied them out by hand in order to have them in his own pos-
session. “We went down to the mine,” an old miner in England ob-
served to an acquaintance of mine, “with a book of Carlyle’s or Mill’s
in our pocket to read whilst we ate; but the boys today go down with
a newspaper and at night they don’t wrestle with a book, but go to
sleep over the wireless.” No one can doubt that the physical conditions
among miners have vastly improved in recent years; but their mental
attitude has perhaps deteriorated; for they lack the purpose and self-
discipline of the older generation. Seebohm Rowntree’s second Survey
of York con rms this supposition.

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Manual workers also need to challenge their minds more than they do now. They
should engage with ideas as earnestly as some British workers in the mid-1800s,
who couldn't a ord books by Ruskin, so they painstakingly copied them by hand to
have access to knowledge. One old miner in England mentioned that they used to
take books by Carlyle or Mill to read while eating in the mine, but nowadays,
workers read newspapers and listen to the radio at night instead of grappling with
books. While the physical conditions for miners have improved, their mental
attitudes may have declined because they lack the determination and self-
discipline of the previous generation. This observation is supported by Seebohm
Rowntree's second Survey of York.

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 The rst rule for autonomous development, toward which all edu-
cation should tend, is to be able in normal health to provide for one’s
own wants and regulate one’s own life, without undue dependence upon
others. However ingrained the habits of co-operation in a family, the
ideal person should be schooled to self-reliance. To have the habit of
making one’s own bed, cleaning one’s own room, to be able to take
turns at cooking meals for oneself or others, and performing whatever
other operations are necessary for the maintenance of a household,
including care of the sick and minding children, are essential for the
development of both sexes; if only because this is the main way of
freeing ourselves from claims to service which come down from days
of universal slavery.

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Paragraph 3
The most important principle of self-development, which all education should
promote, is the ability to take care of oneself and manage one's life independently
when in good health, without relying excessively on others. Regardless of how
accustomed someone is to cooperating within a family, the ideal individual should
be trained to be self-reliant. This means having the skills to make their own bed,
clean their own space, cook meals for themselves or others, and handle various
tasks needed to maintain a household, including caring for the sick and looking
after children. These abilities are crucial for the growth of both genders, not only
because they promote self-su ciency but also because they help break free from
the historical legacy of servitude.

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In this respect, a great advance has been made in many modern
communities: not least in the United States where the frontier tradi-
tion of self-reliance and self-su ciency has given the males in par-
ticular an unusual willingness to look after themselves and to take
on some of the menial burdens of the household. An Italian, self-
exiled from Fascism, told me once that he did not know the real mean-
ing of" freedom until he was established in a little apartment in New
York, and found that since there was no servant to look after him
he was expected to make his own breakfast — and actually accom-
plished this feat. That was both a symbolic and a practical act of lib-
eration. These autonomous activities, bed-making, cooking, dish-wash-
ing, cleaning, provide a certain amount of manual labor, bread labor,
as Tolstoy called it, essential for a balanced life. Such daily work
largely does away with the necessity for special gymnastic exercises.
If in addition one cares for a garden, no further routine exercise is
necessary to keep the adult body in condition: what one may do by
way of walking, swimming, climbing, playing games, will be for re-
laxation and delight.

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Many modern communities, including the United States, have made signi cant
progress in promoting self-reliance and self-su ciency. The frontier tradition in the
United States has instilled a strong willingness, particularly among males, to take
care of themselves and share some of the household chores. An Italian exile, for
instance, discovered the true meaning of freedom in New York when he had to
make his own breakfast without a servant's assistance. This simple act symbolized
both liberation and practicality.

Engaging in these self-reliant activities like making beds, cooking, washing dishes,
and cleaning involves a certain amount of manual labor, often referred to as "bread
labor" by Tolstoy. This kind of daily work helps maintain a balanced life and
eliminates the need for speci c gym exercises. If someone also tends to a garden,
they won't require additional routine exercise to keep their adult body in good
condition. Any physical activity such as walking, swimming, climbing, or playing
games can then be enjoyed for relaxation and pleasure.

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Part of the discipline of daily life is to organize one’s activities so
as to be able to devote a good share of one’s time and energy to public
service in the community. That service cannot begin too early or be
carried on too consistently; for the resorption of government by the
citizens of a democratic community is the only safeguard against those
bureaucratic interventions that tend to arise in every state through the
negligence, irresponsibility, and indi erence of its citizens. Many
services that are now performed inadequately either because the
budget does not provide for them or because they are in the hands
of a remote o cialdom, should be performed mainly on a voluntary
basis by the people of a local community. This includes not merely
administrative services too often dodged in a democracy, like service
on school boards, library boards, and the like: it should also include
other kinds of active public work, like the planting of roadside trees,
the care of public gardens and parks, even some of the functions of
the police. Through such work, each citizen would not merely become
at home in every part of his city and region; he would take over the
institutional life of his community as a personal responsibility.

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Paragraph 5

Part of leading a disciplined daily life involves organizing one's activities in a way
that allows for a signi cant portion of time and energy to be dedicated to serving
the community. This commitment to public service should start early and continue
consistently because in a democratic society, it is the citizens themselves who
must actively participate in governing to prevent excessive bureaucratic
intervention that can arise due to the negligence, irresponsibility, or indi erence of
the people.

Many services that are currently performed inadequately due to budget constraints
or distant bureaucratic management should ideally be carried out on a voluntary
basis by local residents. This goes beyond administrative roles like serving on
school boards or library boards; it should also encompass various forms of active
public work, such as planting trees along roadsides, maintaining public gardens
and parks, and even some aspects of policing. Through this kind of engagement,
each citizen would not only become familiar with every part of their city and region
but also take personal responsibility for the institutional life and well-being of their
community.

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In the new discipline for the daily life, then, public work must re-
ceive, along with one’s vocation and one’s domestic life, its due share
of energy, interest, loving care. War tends to over-concentrate such
claims, divorcing a soldier from his family, forcing him to abandon
completely his vocation: making the claims of the community over-
ride all personal desires and preferences. But no form of integration
that leaves out the constant need for public service will be capable
of redressing the radical unbalance that exists in present-day so-
ciety. The leisure that has now become possible in advanced socie-
ties for workers of all grades must be largely devoted to the tasks
of citizenship; for the more world-embracing become the spheres of
co-operation, the more essential it is that the local units of govern-
ment and administration and industrial organization be vigilantly ad-
ministered, through wide participation in criticism, and through the
exercise of democratic initiative: a matter of giving suggestons and
making demands from the bottom up, not merely a matter of taking
orders from the top down. At the level of the intimate, face-to-face
group politics should, as Michael Graham wisely suggests, be a mat-
ter for weekly, not quadrennial, consultations.

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In this new approach to daily life, public service should receive just as much
attention, energy, and care as one's career and domestic responsibilities. War often
intensi es these demands, separating soldiers from their families and professions,
prioritizing community needs over personal desires. However, any form of personal
growth and balance in society cannot exclude a constant commitment to public
service.

The leisure time that has become available in advanced societies should be
primarily dedicated to citizenship responsibilities. As cooperation extends globally,
it becomes crucial to ensure that local government, administration, and industrial
organizations are e ectively managed with broad participation, criticism, and
democratic initiative. This means encouraging input and demands from the
grassroots level rather than merely following orders from the top.

On a more personal level, as Michael Graham wisely suggests, local politics should
involve weekly consultations rather than infrequent quadrennial ones. This ongoing
engagement is key to fostering a thriving and balanced community life.

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 Finally, the re-building of the family, the assumption of one’s role
as lover and parent, as son or daughter, is vital to a balanced life.
During the last decade, even in countries where little thought has been
devoted to the subject, there has been a spontaneous recovery of paren-
tal and family values, on the part of children whose parents had taken
a more narrowly egotistic attitude toward sex and its domestic responsi-
bilities: in this realm, there have been more spontaneous acts of renewal,
perhaps, than in any other department. The violence and evil of our
time have been, when viewed collectively, the work of loveless men:
impotent men who lust after sadistic power to conceal their failure
as lovers: repressed and frustrated men, lamed by unloving parents
and seeking revenge by taking refuge in a system of thought or a
mode of life into which love cannot intrude: at best, people whose
erotic impulses have been cut o from the normal rhythms of life,
self -enclosed atoms of erotic exploit, incapable of assuming the mani-
fold responsibilities of lovers and parents through all the stages of life,
unwilling to accept the breaks and abstentions of pregnancy, making
sexual union itself an obstacle to the other forms of social union that
ow out of family life.

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Rebuilding the family and embracing roles as a lover, parent, son, or daughter is
essential for a balanced life. Over the past decade, even in places where this
wasn't a prominent concern, there has been a natural resurgence of values related
to parenthood and family. This revival has been particularly noticeable among
children whose parents previously had a more self-centered approach to sex and
their domestic responsibilities. In this domain, there has been a spontaneous
reawakening, perhaps more so than in any other aspect of life.
When we look at the collective violence and evil of our time, it often stems from
individuals who lack love in their lives. These are often people who seek power to
compensate for their failure as lovers, individuals who are repressed and frustrated
due to unloving parents. They may take refuge in ideologies or lifestyles that
exclude love. At best, they are individuals whose erotic desires are disconnected
from the normal ow of life, leading to a self-centered pursuit of sexual satisfaction
that hinders their ability to embrace the broader responsibilities of being lovers and
parents throughout their lives. They may be unwilling to accept the natural
interruptions and sacri ces that come with parenthood, and this can hinder the
development of deeper social bonds that arise from family life.

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 Here the way of growth is twofold; for one thing, it consists in giv-
ing back to marriage the erotic depth and e ulgence that a too-docile
bovine acceptance of continuous parenthood, without pause or relief,
had once brought with it. To this end, the introduction of relatively
safe, though still esthetically unsatisfactory, contraceptives has served
a good purpose. But in addition the parental side of marriage needs
far greater fostering than it has yet received. With rising national in-
comes homes must become more generous in space to give full play
to family life; social measures must be taken to help families of four
or ve children from being undue economic burdens to those who
choose to have them: more of the functions that have slid into the
province of the school must go back to the home, once the domestic
environment of house and neighborhood is designed deliberately for
the play and education of children under the tutelage of their parents,
^he loving observation of children’s growth, even some systematic
habit of observing and recording these transformations, in family
books and collections of papers and photographs, brings one of life’s
most precious rewards: yet in our impoverished urban environments,
people devote to bridge or television, to soap operas or to other forms

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of sodden play, much of the time that they might spend, with far
greater reward, in intercourse and play with their young.*

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1. Making Marriages More Ful lling: It's about bringing back the excitement and
passion in marriages that sometimes get lost when couples have children
continuously without taking a break. We've introduced some methods to help with
this, like using contraceptives that are relatively safe, even though they might not
be the most aesthetically pleasing.

2. Being Better Parents: As people earn more money, they should have bigger
homes to create a great family life. There should also be support from society to
help families with four or ve children, so they don't struggle nancially. We should
also bring back some responsibilities that schools have taken on and make homes
and neighborhoods better places for kids to play and learn under their parents'
guidance.

Spending time with your children, watching them grow, and even keeping records
of their changes in family books and photos is incredibly rewarding. Unfortunately,
in our busy urban lives, people often spend too much time on passive activities like
watching TV or playing cards instead of enjoying quality time with their kids.

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The denial of love here arrests the development of love in every
other part of life; whereas the expression of love, through the various
stages of attachment and detachment, from infancy through adoles-
cence, is what contributes to human maturity, all the more because
the last step in parental love involves the release of the beloved: the
willing cutting of the cord that would otherwise keep the child in a
state of emotional dependence. At that point in the parents’ growth,
their love must widen su ciently to embrace other children besides
their own: otherwise they face desolation and bitterness. Meanwhile
those who fail to achieve love in marriage and parenthood must be
thrice vigilant to compensate that loss in every other relationship by
placing it as far as possible within the pattern of the family.

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Denying love at any stage of life can hinder its development in all other aspects. On
the contrary, expressing love, from the early stages of attachment to the later
stages of detachment, from childhood to adolescence, is what helps people grow
and mature. This is especially true because the nal step in parental love involves
letting go of the child, allowing them to become independent emotionally.

As parents reach this stage, their love should expand to include other children
beyond their own. If they don't do this, they may feel emptiness and bitterness.
Meanwhile, those who struggle to nd love in marriage and parenthood need to be
especially careful and proactive in compensating for this loss in their other
relationships, ideally by creating a family-like bond as much as possible in those
connections.

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In short, the sharing of work experiences, the sharing of citizen re-,
sponsibilities, and the sharing of the full cycle of family life, in
homes and communities that are themselves re-dedicated to these val-
ues — ^this is part of the constant discipline of daily life for those who
seek to transform our civilization. Without this balance in our daily
activities, we shall not bring to our larger task the emotional energy
and the undistortedTove — ^not crippled by covert hatred and compensa-
tory fanaticism — ^that it demands.

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To put it simply, sharing work experiences, participating in civic responsibilities,

and embracing the entire spectrum of family life within homes and communities
dedicated to these values is a crucial part of the ongoing discipline of daily life for
those striving to transform our society. Without this balance in our daily routines,
we won't be able to bring the emotional vigor and genuine love—unburdened by
hidden hatred and extreme fanaticism—that the broader task of transformation
requires.

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