Is hardworking undude?

[BikerDude]

Work precisely as long and as hard as necessary to achieve your goals, whatever they are.

This is what I like to call "efficiency."

Laziness is undudely, for it tends to breed stressful life problems and the resentment of one's compeers.  Freeloading is a good way of pissing on everyone else's rugs.  Rugs aren't cheap, and neither are the rooms that they tie together, so it behooves one to specialize in a challenging field of work.  Become skilled enough, and you can make a reliable living independently.  Living where you want, doing what you love, and setting your own hours, through business acumen and mastery of skill, is a pure expression of the duedly way, inasmuch as is practically possible.

Well I don't think you could go that far in the context of Dudeism.
Let us not forget...

...and even if he's a lazy man, and the Dude was certainly that--quite
possibly the laziest in Los Angeles County which would place him high in the
runnin' for laziest worldwide--but sometimes there's a man. . . sometimes
there's a man.

I guess the point is if busting yer hump makes you happy then do so.
But if the rat race starts to harsh your mellow it's cool to smoke one and listen to whale sounds.
If it pisses of your compeers then it's they who are undude.

[SagebrushSage]

*deleting old posts*

[BikerDude]

I guess the difference is whether you are harming others with your lack of action.  It is undude to harm others.  So, the choice to rest or work must be ethically informed, not merely emotional.

The Dude lived by himself, and was apparently providing for himself or living off of savings.  So, his inaction harmed nobody, and was ethical.  However, it is possible for inaction, when not forced by disability, to cause others distress.  For example, doing nothing as an adult and living with your parents when you could be working and providing for yourself denies your parents their privacy and dignity, causes them embarrassment, and less importantly, uses some of their income.  Also, choosing to do nothing in an emergency situation, for example, not joining the rest of the people in your neighborhood to lay down sandbags during a flood when your own house is unaffected, would also be undude.

One must first seek to minimize harm to others.  After that, one can seek to maximize benefit to oneself.  That is a more dudely way.

Well we just don't know how the Dude fed the monkey.
Given that the Dude by all accounts was an ultra liberal (one of the authors of the port huron statement) I don't think the Dude would object to living on the Government tit. That could be wrong but if political leanings are any indication I don't think the Dude would object to any such social programs.
I mean he'd rather earn a solid living in the Shamus business working wandering daughter jobs but really how much business can one expect?

http://coursesa.matrix.msu.edu/~hst306/documents/huron.html

Sounds like what you are asking is "what makes a man".
Is it. . . is it, being prepared to do the right thing? 
Whatever the price? 
Isn't that what makes a man?
Sure that and a pair of testicles.
Certainly the Dude would not hurt anyone on purpose (other than threatening castration in order to get the money just like the nihilists) but if you are including the harm done by being dependent on other's kindness then I think the Dude could likely be accused. Both Lebowskis. The Big and the Dude.
The Dude did mostly just smoke a lot of tie stick and occupy administrative building in college.
But perhaps most importantly he felt strongly enough to help author the port huron statement.
The dude has strong principles but if you are depending on him to be the one to stand up under fire and adversity for them, or to work real hard in the advancement of said principles, I don't suspect he's the best role model for that. Nor is the other Jeffrey Lebowski, the Big Lebowski a roll model for the hard working capitalist. Although both talk a good game.

I've always thought that the story is in a way meant to draw parallels between many seemingly different things. The Dude and the Nihilists being an example. The nihilists don't believe in anything but they act very affirmatively. The Dude believes in a lot of things but generally doesn't act on his beliefs.
In the end both end up threatening castration in order to get ill gotten money.
To me the Dude illustrates that beliefs or lack of belief is over rated.
It's about finding personal inner peace. Abiding is passive. Not affirmative. It's about being modest.
The Dude is driven by liberal principles but if the Dude is expected to build homes for the homeless or work at a soup kitchen, he's just not the best choice. The other Jeffrey Lebowski, Big Lebowski is about "pulling yourself up by your boot straps" but we learn that he full of shit.
The point is that we are all full of shit. Which Lebowski is the most full of shit? The Big Lebowski or the Dude? They both are. And that's the point. Phonies! Gold brickers!
The difference is that the Dude gets over it.
Fuck it Dude.Can't be worried about all that shit. Life goes on.
Lets go bowling. Forget the hard questions. Nobody is qualified to point fingers.
Take it easy and try to make the finals.

Hard work? It can be very exhausting. And that's a bummer.
Nope. Not the Dude

[SagebrushSage]

*deleting old posts*

[Reverend Al]

...The Dude lived by himself, and was apparently providing for himself or living off of savings...

...Well we just don't know how the Dude fed the monkey...

A little trivia here.  According to IMDb.com, in an early draft of the script it was revealed that the Dude was somehow an heir to the inventor of the Rubik's Cube, but Joel Coen decided to drop it and never say where he got his bones, or clams, or whatever you call them.

[SagebrushSage]

*deleting old posts*

[DudePaskiewicz]

Hello, I'm a new Dudeist. I just want to ask if hardworking is undude or not in Dudeism. I mean, you have to be very, very hardworking to create a whole new religion from scratch, am i right?

Follow the middle path dude. Work too much and you will spend your life working. Work to little and and your life will be working to make ends meet. It's very dudely to work where your campassions lie, or just to sustain your mellow lifestyle. Remember there's a dude for every time and place. Be the dude for your time and place. Unless you don't feel it's necassary. Then be that dude.

[thevideoartist]

I'm new to dudeism myself and I've been trying to suss this out.  I work really hard at my current job and I hate it... I'd need to work extra hard after hours to get myself qualified for a different job.  Dudeism seems to be all about taking it easy which is absolutely my problem.  I think what I'm discovering the more I read and explore the philosophy it seems like hard work isn't a problem unless it keeps pulling the rug out from under you.  It's important to either find the work that helps you take it easy or if you can't, focus on the moment and don't let any sort of fears about debts, bills, promotions, and other bullshit in your imaginary future get into your head and give you anxiety.  Also I think I've had to really separate myself from frustration with a lack of material stuff that accompanies most folks in the workplace.  So my manager gets a new car, cool dude... so I can't afford to pay a doctor bill, I abide and do what I can when I can.  Living at the urgency of yourself rather than everyone else I think is the dudeist approach to work.  Doesn't mean you can't be excellent at what you do or build something great... it just means you do it for no one else but yourself and don't let it overstay its welcome.  Just as our minds our limber, let our work-ethics be limber... and balanced.

And don't forget to take er easy.

Anyone else agree?  am I just blathering here?

[RandoRock]

That's fucking interesting, Man.

I think you make some good points, Bowman. To me the philosophy of "Take er' easy" isn't about being lazy, it's about not letting the stress of life get to you. The Dude's situation is fucked from the word go but he takes it all in stride and doesn't let it beat him down. At the end of a hard day's work just do a j, listen to some songs of the whale, and fuggedaboutit.

[BikerDude]

IMO it's about priorities.
It's not that the dude believes or disbelieves in hard work. The dude is most certainly a lazy man but he acknowledges that you have to feed the monkey.
But since the dude  is not driven by personal gain and is clearly not an adherent of what could be termed the Protestant/calvanist work ethic (valuing hard work as a virtue in it's self apart from gain) he just has more important shit to worry about. Does that mean that he is a freeloader? No. He avoids personal responsibilities when possible. But the dude wouldn't be my first choice as a partner in business or as backup in a pinch. I wouldn't be surprised by him failing to achieve even in modest tasks that are his charge.
Do the dude's choices result in success or failure? Well if you're glad he's out there taking it easy for all us sinners then it's a success. But in these kind of concrete social terms I think the dude would prefer neither. A dead tie. Not success or failure. Just to abide and live very modestly and not step on toes if he can help it. Would society judge him a success? Absolutely not.
A deadbeat a loser. Someone who the square community couldn't give a shit about.
Thing is that the dude is prone to sins of omission. In avoiding conflict he is easily swept along like the tumbling tumble weeds. In the real world that eventually puts one on the short end of the stick. He could easily end up shit out of luck and dependent on others. And I'd be surprised if when the going gets tough the dude gets going.

[LotsaBadKarma]

There was mention made of paying bills here and that's an important consideration. If a person creates expenses/debts through their own actions I think it is undudely to allow those debts to go uncompensated. However, it is the rate at which one accumulates debt and the particulars of the debt (do I need a new car or do I just want one?) that contribute to the stress that I would feel. I guess if I'm a single dude that works a job that pays enough for me to rent a domicile but not enough to buy and support a domicile then I would have no particular business buying a domicile which I have to pay to maintain if I am not particularly good with my hands and tools. That being the case I am in a position to need to spend money to have someone else perform maintenance on my crib. A big part of getting in over my head has always been the so-called "keeping up with the Joneses" mindset. Gotta buy a new car because so and so bought a new car. Bought a bigger house because the old house wouldn't hold all the new shit that I bought. And in doing so I am bringing more stress than necessary upon myself.
I guess it's a case of stressing myself unnecessarily by giving in to wants over needs.

[jgiffin]

A big part of getting in over my head has always been the so-called "keeping up with the Joneses" mindset. Gotta buy a new car because so and so bought a new car. Bought a bigger house because the old house wouldn't hold all the new shit that I bought. And in doing so I am bringing more stress than necessary upon myself.

Well put. Consciously invoking the dudeist mindset helps me lessen that tendency. I still fuck up and buy the occasional lightsaber while drunk and online at 3am. But not so often as before. Fight Club (book and movie) treats this issue really well, too. For all of the topical dissimilarities between it and TBL, they share a lot at their cores. And the movie has some really great lines like (and I'm paraphrasing here)...

"We work at jobs we hate to buy things we don't need."

"The things you own end up owning you."

"Reject the importance of material possessions."

"A house full of condiments and no food."

"We are consumers: the byproducts of a lifestyle obsession."

Edit: Shit, I may have to steal Oliver's playbook and start me a religion influenced by Fight Club. There's more good stuff in it that I remembered.

[DigitalBuddha]

Is hardworking undude?

Well, dude, we just don't know. I would say you have to do what you have to do to keep the monkey off your back.

[Reverend Al]

...Consciously invoking the dudeist mindset helps me lessen that tendency. I still fuck up and buy the occasional lightsaber while drunk and online at 3am. But not so often as before. Fight Club (book and movie) treats this issue really well, too. For all of the topical dissimilarities between it and TBL, they share a lot at their cores. And the movie has some really great lines like (and I'm paraphrasing here)...

"We work at jobs we hate to buy things we don't need."

"The things you own end up owning you."

"Reject the importance of material possessions."

"A house full of condiments and no food."

"We are consumers: the byproducts of a lifestyle obsession."

Edit: Shit, I may have to steal Oliver's playbook and start me a religion influenced by Fight Club. There's more good stuff in it that I remembered.

I am Jack's raging bile duct.