CSS Forums - Precis from 2017

Dear All,

The following is the precis from P&C 2017. Please help me evaluate it.

[B]Subject: Detoxifying society through the contemplation of laziness[/B]

"Mindless rushing for doing something is counterproductive to humanity at large, though the devil takes pride in instilling it. It produces the distorted affairs of the world, which is not the result of laziness but as a consequence of vile execution of actions by the bandwagons of statesmen. Had they been enjoying the luxury pursuits and detoxifying their thoughts in 1914, the world would have had been better off. Similarly, in the run-up to the peace conference, if they had spent some time away from the menace of media talks, the world would have had been intact. Further, like the European politicians, the clerics would be in a better state if they accept laziness and spend productive time observing the nature, without resorting to critiquing the societal mores."

[B]Original from 2017[/B]

"All the evils in this world are brought about by the persons who are always up and doing, but do not know when they
ought to be up nor what they ought to be doing. The devil, I take it, is still the busiest creature in the universe, and I can
quite imagine him denouncing laziness and becoming angry at the smallest waste of time. In his kingdom, I will wager,
nobody is allowed to do nothing, not even for a single afternoon. The world, we all freely admit, is in a muddle but I for
one do not think that it is laziness that has brought it to such a pass. It is not the active virtues that it lacks but the
passive ones; it is capable of anything but kindness and a little steady thought. There is still plenty of energy in the
world (there never were more fussy people about), but most of it is simply misdirected. If, for example, in July 1914,
when there was some capital idling weather, everybody, emperors, Kings, arch dukes, statesmen, generals, journalists,
had been suddenly smitten with an intense desire to do nothing, just to hang about in the sunshine and consume
tobacco, then we should all have been much better off than we are now. But no, the doctrine of the strenuous life still
went unchallenged; there must be no time wasted; something must be done. Again, suppose our statesmen, instead of
rushing off to Versailles with a bundle of ill-digested notions and great deal of energy to dissipate had all taken a
fortnight off, away from all correspondence and interviews and what not, and had simply lounged about on some
hillside or other apparently doing nothing for the first time in their energetic lives, then they might have gone to their
so-called peace conference and come away again with their reputations still unsoiled and the affairs of the world in
good trim. Even at the present time, if half of the politicians in Europe would relinquish the notion that laziness is crime
and go away and do nothing for a little space, we should certainly gain by it. Other examples come crowding into mind.
Thus, every now and then, certain religious sects hold conferences; but though there are evils abroad that are mountains
high, though the fate of civilization is still doubtful, the members who attend these conferences spend their time
condemning the length of ladies’ skirts and the noisiness of dance bands. They would all be better employed lying flat
on their backs somewhere, staring at the sky and recovering their mental health."

Thank you