How Modern Man Became Merry - Leisure and Recreation

Sep 29, 2026

“How Modern Man Became Merry” traces a shift in modern society from an acquisitive order centered on money-making toward a “Leisure State” framed as constant play. It contrasts secular recreation with Christian views of work, describing how industrial production drives mass entertainment, boredom, and psychological diversion. Despite labor-saving devices and expanded entertainment industries, leisure fails to reduce work demands and instead deepens a sustained national crisis of restlessness and escapism.

LanguageEnglish

CategoryReligion & Spirituality

FormatPDF

Pages52

Reading Time2 h 11 min

AccessFree to download

How Modern Man Became Merry

From Acquisitive Society to Leisure State

Secularization of Recreation

Industrial Entertainment and Escapism

Leisure Ideal and National Crisis

X INTEGRITY0Return July,1948Vol.2,No10SUBJECT:Leisure and Recreation C ONT EN T S HOW MODERN MAN BECAME MERRY By PETER MICHAELS - · - · · 1 MODERN DANCING AND CHRISTIANITY 5 By LEONARD AUSTIN · -- THE LEAGUE OF ST.LINIMENT 10 By ED WILLOCK · THE DATING SYSTEM 18 By DoROTHY X.DIX- BROTHER,CAN YOU SPARE AN HOUR? 26 By JOHN HICKS · · THE ONLY CHILD(a poem) 32 By SEAN O'FEARGHAIL - · X MARKS THE SPOT(a poem) 33 By MARIE LAUK - · PROGRESSIVE EDUCATION(a poem) 33. By SR.ST.FRANCIS,S.S.J.- · SYMBOLS OF SIN 35 By JOHN GLENNON - · CHRISTIANITY AND THE PRESS DON'T MIX 40 By WALTON WILLIAMS . 45 BOOK REVIEWS - - INTEGRITY is published by lay Catholics maddedicated to the task of discovering the newsynthesis of RELIGION cmd LIFE for our times. July 1948 Vol.2,No.10 Published Monthly by Integrity Publishing Co.,1556 York Avenue New York28 N.Y.,P19-8313.Edited by Edward Willock and Carol Jackson.En-tered as Second Class Matter October 14,1946 at the Post Office atNew York,N.Y.Under the Act of March 3,1897.All singlecopies 25 cents each;yearly subscriptions domestic $3.00,Canadian $3.50,Foreign $4.00. # How Modern Man Became Merry ETRACING briefly the history of modern man,we find that the Acquisitive Society was supersededby the Leisure State,which in turn gave way tothe great Age of Penance just ended. It was during the early acquisitive age thatthe institutions of society gradually were orientedto money-making as a final end,refashioned fromthe old Christian pattern to the service of mammon.Not everyone swung over to the love of money,but the leaders of society did,and they exercised a sort of personal monasticism in the pursuit of that end. Since we are concerned here chiefly with recreation rather thaneconomics,let us pause to examine the leisure-time activities of the ac-quisitive man.The outstanding characteristic was secularization.Theplay of that period was no more related to God than was the work.Theholidays were patriotic and bank holidays,not saints'days.Men golfedsolemnly,with an awareness of the physical benefits to be derived froma day in the open air after a week at the office desk.They traveledmuch abroad during the intermittent periods of peace,for cultural andbusiness reasons,engaging chiefly in sightseeing.They enjoyed thetheatre,concerts,card playing,and what they used to call the "booksof the month."This is the early acquisitive period,remember,whenmen still seemed able to hold to the good natural order,when it lookedas though,having abandoned Christianity(except for occasional lipservice),men could maintain a cultured pagan standard of life. As the rich grew richer,but not happier,the poor were regimentedincreasingly,by the natural progress of an unnatural system of indus-trial mass production,into a propertyless,proletarian condition inwhich they were virtually robots.It is unlikely that the masses of thepeople,with their Christian heritage,could have been persuaded(asthe leaders were)that money could buy happiness.But they did dis-cover that in an industrial society money can buy quite a bit of oblivion.The more industrialized society became,so much the more intolerablelife became for the masses of the people.The more intolerablelife became,the more industrial production was diverted from physicalnecessities(such as housing,basic clothing,and food)to instruments ofentertainment and diversion.Men slaved monotonously to make thetelevision sets which would make their monotonous lives tolerable.They sold themselves into the chain gangs of the automobile plants soas to earn enough money to buy an automobile.A sort of ratio per-sisted betwen the demands of a dehumanized population for escape and the sacrifice of mind,will,energy and talents which went into makingthe latest escape device;the former always running a little ahead of thelatter.Naturally the majority of men did not realize that they werebusy tightening the

FAQs

What does the article say modern society replaced as it moved toward leisure?

It describes the acquisitive society being superseded by the Leisure State, after an ended “Age of Penance.”

How does the article contrast Christian teaching with the Leisure State’s view of labor and play?

It states the Leisure State denies the idea that “Man is born to labor,” arguing instead that man is made to play once science makes work unnecessary, which conflicts with the Christian theory of life and work.

What major problem does the article say leisure ultimately leads to?

It concludes that people became bored—everyone was bored—and that a sustained national crisis followed despite the expansion of entertainment and labor-saving devices.

Sep 29, 2026

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