In his book The Protestant Ethic and the Spirit of Capitalism (1904) German sociologist Max Weber introduced the term work ethic. Weber correlated the rise of European capitalism with Protestant values and theological Calvinist doctrines of dutiful work characterized by discipline and diligence. According to Weber’s thesis, in the social and economic context of late 19th to early 20th century Europe, work was an ethical commitment fueled by the desire for eternal salvation.
Weber addressed how the compulsive fixation on work as a source of spiritual deliverance, trapped people in an iron cage that stultified human potential and emotional fulfillment. He feared that along with the extravagant expansion in size and scope of industrialization an extreme bureaucratized future would result, causing one’s identity to get wrapped up in an endless cycle of labor that would hinder personal freedom.
Although Weber rejected socialism as the economic panacea, he was influenced by German philosopher and sociologist Karl Marx, specifically in regard to social stratification, a concept in which people are classified as either laborers/proletariat or the owners of production/bourgeoisie. Weber however, took Marx’s views further by suggesting that social class is not limited to this dichotomy. Rather, he said that power is also attained through other variables such as property ownership and the prestige rooted in athletic or intellectual prowess.
Despite the fact that Weber and Marx’s visions differed they were both pessimistic about the rise of capitalism, and in many ways their writings foreshadowed what capitalism and work has become in contemporary society.
Specifically, Weber emphasized how rationalized production alienated mankind and usurped personal goals and desires. He prophesied that on a sociocultural level the trajectory of large-scale efficient production would lead to bureaucratic domination and oligarchy, to the detriment of individuality and intellectual autonomy.
With the current decline of a disciplined labor force. I am led to consider the prophetic teachings of Marx and Weber. I’m led to wonder if the proletariat is no longer a necessary commodity. Does the worker count or has the worker become dispensable, replaced by automation and outsourcing?
I find myself questioning where modern technology and economic development has brought us and how the current capitalist landscape has impacted the work ethic and workers fate. Has the impersonal and amoral nature of capitalism dehumanized workers and the pursuit of work in the west?
When The Pew Research Center released a report titled Millennials: A Portrait of Generation Next, their findings indicated that unlike Gen X (43 to 58 y.o.), Baby Boomers (59 to 77 y.o.) and the Silent Generation (65+), millennials were the only group that did not include the work ethic as a distinctive characteristic of their generation.
It’s easy to interpret these findings as evidence of the stereotypical trope of millennials as lazy and entitled, but we are pressed to consider if it tells a different story. Perhaps it signifies how burnt out and demoralized Generation Y are from a failing economy, exorbitant debt and the confusion of relativism.
Following this line of thought, if work ethics are a set of cultural norms and moral guidelines that provide the foundation for productivity and collective purpose, are we living in a society that supports this intention?
I for one am witnessing socioeconomic conditions which do not support the work ethic. Actually, as a boomer I often wonder if I would have survived contemporary life as a millennial. Born into difficult circumstances, I was challenged to carve out an existence for myself with no family support while plagued by the ravages of complex trauma.
Attaining college and post-graduate funding, low cost therapy, affordable rent, full healthcare, and job opportunities in NYC were realistic possibilities in my day. I worked three jobs and attained a college and grad education while receiving comprehensive mental health treatment. I even had enough money saved to travel the globe. In spite of the emotional struggles I grappled with, life was bearable and even fulfilling largely because I could attain what I needed to persevere.
It’s important to note that NYC corruption, crime and mediocrity were just as prevalent then as they are today. However, the cost of living was the qualifier. Over the years the NYC landscape has transformed through gentrification, displacing immigrants and working class folk so that the wealthy 1% can occupy lavish high rises.
Predominant issues pertaining to social isolation, cost of living largely rooted in sky high housing costs and cost-prohibitive healthcare, and the inherent pressure of competition rooted in an industrialized ‘caste system’ plague present-day New Yorkers. Generalized anxiety and fear related to an absence of space, mass transit mayhem, and rampant violence, rudeness, and endemic homelessness are pervasive.
The Golden Age of Graffiti Art, when you could spot a Keith Haring drawing on a subway platform, is long gone. Music landmarks such as the Bottom Line Cabaret are gone, along with Gerde’s Folk City, Max’s Kansas City, Tramps, The Palladium and CBGB. Times Square has become a place of Disneyland sterility. Iconic diners have been replaced by Starbucks. Gritty OTBs are a thing of the past.
What the present proffers is a permanent underclass that feels hopeless about ever getting ahead.
In fact, Marketwatch reports, “that almost a third of the U.S. labor force earns less than $15 an hour, with half of all working women of color earning less than that.”
Indeed, working has become futile due to low wages and wasteful spending. It’s no wonder that approximately 80% of Americans are in debt. That millions, frustrated by the lack of life-sustainable employment would drop out of the labor force to live with relatives while working cash gigs, is a powerful indicator that codified salaried employment is no longer the norm.
Meanwhile, a recent Oxfam report indicates the nation’s billionaires are almost a third richer than they were at the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020.
With corporatized medicine and class warfare dwarfing basic decency and bailouts and surging the stock market taking precedence over the needs of the working class, it’s understandable that the work ethic would be teetering on life support.
It goes without saying that living in a world which mocks workers and awards scammers is demoralizing. Meritocracy has become obsolete and Horatio Alger rags to riches stories are few and far between. As a result folks relegated to subordinate classes, immersed in the tedium of the daily workload, are resigned to their plight. The search for work beyond mere monetary value, that offers work-life balance and has intrinsic purpose for oneself and community, has taken a back seat to either working long hours to make ends meet or simply quitting.
With little recourse given neo-liberal economic policies and the progressive decline of the labor unions since Reagan busted the American labor movement with his PATCO firing, workers struggle with demanding safe work conditions, reasonable hours, increases in pay and better benefits. Even the recent uptick in labor movement activism is a far cry from it’s historical origins. This is mainly because labor laws and deregulation allow employers to impede union organizing and collective bargaining.
Clearly reducing class antagonisms and conditions of oppression means reducing the power of the wealthy elite. Ideally this approach would impact lobbying efforts so that policy changes with regard to tax rates, bailouts, wages, public health and social security expansion. However given that wealthy donors call the shots with policy making, as they are members of a powerful superclass which determine foreign policy and run our government, the corporations, and the worlds of finance and media, dismantling our enslavement to a corrupt system so that a redistribution of power can exist, will likely require a revolutionary uprising of some sort.
Until then, reviving the importance of the work ethic, or what the American Psychological Association (APA) describes as ‘effortful activity which provides social, moral, and psychological good,’ will require self-driven motivation, innovation and effort.
As much as this is critical to our psychological growth, it is a difficult undertaking in the absence of a supportive social context. As psychologist Abraham Maslow suggested, human motivation and behavior is intertwined with the fulfillment of basic psychological needs. Accordingly, to return to a balanced perspective in which the ethics of work and productivity enhance our quality of life, a baseline of satisfaction with physiological needs (food, clothing, and shelter) along with safety, security and belonging, needs to exist.
With provisions for survival in place we can examine our relationship to ‘‘individualism, competitiveness, and high personal expectations, with an emphasis on self-discipline, self-improvement, and deferred gratification.” (APA) Whats more cultivating conscientiousness, being highly responsible and proceeding with containment and caution while striving for achievement, is deemed the most essential personality trait to establish industry and competence. Yet without work-life balance in the mix conscientious people are prone to burn out from expending way too much energy on goal attainment.
Above all, we need to experience the fundamental joy of learning to fully embrace the inner resources, potentials and creative expression integral to a strong work ethic.
Highlighted in the documentary A Touch of Greatness educator Albert Cullum demonstrates how innovative exploration and unbridled imagination makes learning both fun and compelling. It also raises the standard of achievement, as evidenced by film’s footage capturing children passionately performing Antigone, Saint Joan and Julius Caesar.
Cullum imparted, ”Through movement, through emotions, through activities, through projects, all the basics fit in and they’re learning without realizing they’re learning. Learning’s not painful, learning should be joyful.”
Extrapolating Cullum’s wisdom and trailblazing strategies onto the realm of the marketplace is critical to reviving the virtues of the work ethic and producing a labor pool rich with talent and enthusiasm. Indeed, in a climate of corporate boredom and sterility the creative encouragement of new ideas and diverse perspectives may be the only feasible way to neutralize the corrosive impact of crony capitalism so that the emerging workforce might have a fighting chance.
