Is the concept of "laziness" seen by society purely through an economic lens ?

How old are these men? I get your point, but an adult male approaching 25-30 and living with his parents suggests other issues that you did not list in your post. Living with his parents throws a big wrench in your argument.

They are both lazy/bums, although I'd use different language. You can, however, be very industrious without making much money. Extremely competitive and time-consuming jobs in charities pay very little, for example.

There's the real economy and the financial economy that the real one serves. An extremely wealthy and fat man, who makes money out of money, the things he does being a net negative for the society around him will likely win awards for libertarian independence.

On the other hand a man who lives with parents, is perhaps softer in spirit, but has a high degree of obligation to his family would be regarded as a loser and win loser awards. Perhaps he finds the dog eat dog world too much, but ultimately has a bond with family that is godly.

The former wins awards for destroying local communities and getting rich (US dream is based on being rich).

Many of the former types leave their parents and never speak to them like good independent modern people. Westerners regard people from other cultures who have multiple generations of people in the same house as loser peoples. These are very often bombed and regarded as savage and backward. Zulus for example, genocided for not doing what they were told. Likely had multiple generations living in same tent.

You can both be rich, lazy, utterly bad for society. But nobody who owns a yacht would ever be thought of as lazy or selfish.

Di(s)cus

Guy 1 is fulfilling his brain's evolutionary directives. Guy 2 is a burden on his immediate community.

Running 80 miles per week doesn't take a ton of time. That's less than 90 minutes of running per day, so even working a few hours per day they have 8+ waking hours that is unaccounted for. So they're a little bit lazy.

It's the free market.

Most people are stupid.

This means that most jobs are stupid.

And the truly valuable jobs- don't pay.

Better to pursue your interests with a passion.

Or give your time to charity.

That said, best not to be a charity case yourself.

That's doubly stupid.

Is he? Being lazy is an evolutionary directive, we're hard wired to find the easiest route to a goal. That's probably why humans are so advanced as a species, we're constantly trying to find the most efficient way of doing things.

Interesting question. Yes, I think that most modern Americans measure “contribution to society” based solely on economic factors. Which is funny, because much of earned wealth today is generated through passive income, and most jobs are made-up makework.

I agree with this! Brought to mind all of the brouhaha over the Harrison Butker speech last week. Amidst all the predictable uproar about sexism and gender roles and all that,I felt that this larger point was missing: what is work FOR? Is it ultimately for the good of families, children and the future of society, or is it just the gaining of financial independence to do whatever you want until you die alone? This goes for both men and women.

Regarding the OP’s question, I think more information is needed. Is Guy 1 working hard in his career to support his wife and kids, or is he just making money for the sake of it and spending it on video games and cruises? Is Guy 2 staying at home to help care for his sick father or mother while running a lot in the meantime, or is he just chasing abstract fitness goals while living off his parents?

(To be clear, I think age does matter. I think it’s fine for a guy fresh out of college to live at home and spend a year or two chasing big dreams before getting real if it doesn’t work out. And I think Guy 1, if young and single, should use his disposable income to join a gym and get healthy with the free time he now has). But after that, in terms of the long run, the focus should be on self-sacrifice for family instead of individual success.

If you’re not making someone else richer then you’re lazy. Ah yes the American dream!

You got it!

Greed is good for some.

Guy 1 is a slob