A Cityless and Countryless World by Henry Olerich

"Before I can give you a clear description of the interior of the ‘big-house,' and the work that is done in it by the inmates, it will be necessary to give you a brief explanation of our system and idea of labor," continued Mr. Midith.

"In the first place you want to bear in mind that our day's labor, as I have told you before, is very short, in an average less than two hours a day; but there is no place in our society for an idler. All sound, able-bodied persons, men, women and children, are expected to work at some suitable productive labor. We teach that labor is necessary and honorable; that idleness is robbery and a disgrace. Our public opinion shuns an idler or unproductive laborer as much as you shun a burglar. We believe that a proper amount of physical labor is healthful, that it is essential for the highest development of body and mind. We further believe that children should be taught to labor while young, because labor becomes pleasurable only when the habit of laboring is acquired during childhood and youth. A child should be taught to be independent, to support itself by agreeable, healthful labor as early as possible, for many reasons which I will tell you some other time. I find here on earth that many parents believe that manual labor is a disgrace. With us, you will notice, it is just the reverse. We believe that a parent who does not teach a child to labor while it is young is the child's greatest enemy, for such a child will be a slave to labor ever after.