The Man Who Avoids Work | Malachy McCourt | Big Think

The Man Who Avoids Work

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“My purpose in life always has been to avoid work,” confides Malachy McCourt. “And I hear people saying, ‘I work hard and I pay my taxes.’ Well, you’re an asshole.”

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Malachy McCourt:

Malachy McCourt was born in Brooklyn, USA and from the age of three was raised in Limerick, Ireland. He returned to the land of his birth at the age of twenty and again worked at the manual tasks such as longshoreman, truck loader, dishwasher, until he became an actor. That career took him to Broadway and Off-Broadway and regional theatres in plays such as Mass Appeal, Da, The Hostage, Inherit the Wind, Carousel and Translations. The soap operas such as Ryan's Hope, Search for Tomorrow, One Life to Live, and All My Children were also a good source of work and sustenance as were the movies Molly Maguires, She's the One, The Devil's Own, Green Card, and TV movies such as You Can't Go Home Again and The Dain Curse. Due to a heavy schedule of writing, book signings and public appearances McCourt had to take a sabbatical from the acting trade but is now back after completing five movies Happy Hour, Guru of Sex, Gods and Generals, and Ash Wednesday plus a running part in the HBO prison series Oz. As well as being the co-author of the play A Couple of Blaguards with his brother Frank, Malachy has written his own New York Times bestseller memoir, A Monk Swimming, published by Hyperion Press. His memoir, Singing My Him Song, now out in paperback is published by Harper Collins. Running Press recently published four of Malachy’s books: the history of the song Danny Boy, a history of The Claddagh Ring, Voices of Ireland, an anthology, and Malachy McCourt’s History of Ireland. Recent books, Harold Be Thy Name and Bush Lies in State, are published by Welcome Rain. In the works is I Never Drink When I’m Sober for Harper Collins. Malachy writes a column, Sez I to Myself, that appears in the Manhattan Spirit, The Westsider and Our Town in NYC.

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TRANSCRIPT:

Question: You've been a builder, actor, bar owner, writer and more. What was your favorite job?

Malachy McCourt: My favorite job. My purpose in life always has been to avoid work. And I hear these people saying, “I work hard and I pay my taxes.” Well, you’re an asshole. Because in my readings, if the Bible is correct, and I’m not a biblical scholar by any means, but whatever Adam and Eve did, I don’t even know what it was. But they did something that apparently annoyed the guy that made them and they got booted. And she was sentenced to bear children and pain and labor, and they mention that they had to grow up to be teenagers. And he was sentenced to work in the fields where his skin would be burnt by the sun and his hand will be torn by the thorns and thistles of the field and he should earn his bread by the sweat of his brow.” So, that to me is work, you see. So, I didn’t do it. He did. So, let him pay the price.

All of my sins – that’s called “Original Sin,” all of mine are mine, and all my sins are original. So, I’ve avoided work all my life, you see. So, I’m like a bee. I go from flower to flower. I go where the nectar is, and then we make life a just a lot of honey. So, whenever I’m broadcasting, I like it. When I’m broadcasting I can’t wait to hear what I say. When I’m writing, I thoroughly enjoy it. It just goes on. When I’m writing in long hand, it just goes on and on and on. When I was in the saloon business, I would just greet people and talk to them and avoid taxes, and getting behind the bar. What else. I ran for governor of New York, and I thoroughly enjoyed campaigning. And all of that. But mostly anything to do with socializing, entertaining, having a chat, there’s nothing like it. And I’m curious to know what’s over at the other side there because people don’t – well the thing is, people don’t die here, you see. In America they pass away, they pass on, they leave us, they’re gone, no longer with us, they’re at peace, they’re with the Lord, they’re six feet under, they’ve kicked the bucket. And the other thing is, they don’t allow a dying on the highway. No Passing. They give you a ticket if you die on the highway.

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