Are "Work Ethics" & "American Dream" a way to keep people working hard?

[GeorgeJohn]

Some people say that working is good and that it makes people better themselves, not just by giving means of living, but because it prevents them from doing other things, becoming lazy and living of others. This entails a number of second corollaries such as:

- If you do not work you are not a good person.
- Since work is good, the more you do the better.
- Working is the natural order of life and what "God wants". If you do not work you are "a sinner". (see here

Comprehending works from my perspective, it's real that work is the primary source of provision of better living, so without engaging in work even though it's average work, I think is obvious that working activities is what can extend the life of humans via finance, exercise and engagement in conversation, so without work life would have be difficult to survive, yes i agree with you that work can only make someone people lazy, but the only factor work can make someone people lazy, is the situation whereby it's am office work that does not required disturbance or stress, but their are varieties of works that can help for proper activation of body functions such as engineering works, such as constructional works.

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[CarnagexD]

Work ethics is something that is duly expected from you by your company. Yes it could be a mechanism to ensure that you are working at your utmost capacity but we can't just put a company's productivity in the hope that your team works hard because you trust them, so certain rules and regulations are necessary to ensure that a business stays alive, one way or another.

[AndySt]

They condition people into thinking that if they work hard enough, they will get more money but that is not the case since there isn't a lot of people that are hardworking that get rich, maybe there are some that are an exception but most of the time, it is not the case. This conditioning is used so the capitalist ruling class is able to exploit human resources with the problem of the people revolting against them.

A lot of people can not become rich, because it is those individual people who have more wealth than the main number of people around them, just considered rich. A person is a social and rational being, and therefore it is better for society to motivate a person to work with such ideas. Reality, of course, never falls short of such ideals, but if society and citizens at least strive for such things, then I do not see anything wrong with it. The most important thing is that the gap between reality and ideals such as the American dream is not huge, otherwise social explosions are inevitable and this capitalist ruling class in the person of individual representatives may well give way to other representatives.

[just_Alice]

I think the main problem is that nowadays to live the American Dream you need to do so much better, than just work. In developing countries, it is common that the government and oligarchs simply steal the fruits of people's work. They can try very hard but never get any kind of reward, while the upper-class people buy themselves the 15th car or the third mansion.

In the developed countries there's another problem. Too many educated people choose the same work field, e.g. everyone wants to be a designer, or a lawyer, an actor, manager, etc. This creates a huge and unnecessary competition, which leads to too many qualified people ending up working out of their professional field or having no job and, at the same time, lack of skilled labor in non-popular fields.

In such an atmosphere, in order to succeed not only you need to work hard and know your stuff, but also to be able to "sell" yourself, make a proper presentation, be very goal-oriented, competitive, and also sometimes you need to be lucky. Because in very developed countries you can possess all of the above-mentioned virtues, but still end up not living your dream, because your employer didn't like you, or had a bad day and didn't feel like hiring you, or you got fired after a long period of hard work.

This is what happens when the labor market is oversaturated because people aren't doing what they really want, but rather choose whatever they are saddled with from the very childhood. This needs to change.

[jaberwock]

I don’t think that whether we should work or not should be a question. As you said, people not working might not be a sin, but there is a quote that goes as such – an idle mind is the devils workshop, meaning that when you are idle you’re likely to be facing temptations that will lead you into doing things that are morally wrong. People steal because they don’t have work to do.

So not working might not be a sin, but it can lead you to sin. There is no food for a lazy man, you don’t just sit and expect money to be coming into your pocket, no, you have forgot to work and then the money will come. So, it’s totally right that people have to work, if you don’t, nobody will do it for you.

[Kittygalore]

Work ethics is something that is duly expected from you by your company. Yes it could be a mechanism to ensure that you are working at your utmost capacity but we can't just put a company's productivity in the hope that your team works hard because you trust them, so certain rules and regulations are necessary to ensure that a business stays alive, one way or another.

I don't have a problem with work ethic because I want my workplace as an employee respectable as much as possible, what I have a problem with is that Capitalism sells you the American Dream which is just a myth that is used to conditioned into thinking that they are a vital part of the corporate machine which deludes them of the reality that these parts are replaceable.

[davis196]

It doesn't matter how hard you are working.What matters is do you really like your job/business?
If you work hard on a shitty job,then your life is going to be miserable.If you truly enjoy your job/career,hard work won't be a problem for you.The main goal is to find your purpose in life.This is easier said than done.I still don't know what is my purpose of life.
The "American dream" and the "protestant work ethic" are just ways to explain the "hard work pays off" cliche.
And yes,it's always better to work something,instead of being lazy and wasting your life,doing nothing every day

[LUCKMCFLY]

-snip

They condition people into thinking that if they work hard enough, they will get more money but that is not the case since there isn't a lot of people that are hardworking that get rich, maybe there are some that are an exception but most of the time, it is not the case. This conditioning is used so the capitalist ruling class is able to exploit human resources with the problem of the people revolting against them.

That's true, a lot of hard working people do not get rich, and then they tell you to be smart and go to college and study and become better, so you do that and when you do that suddenly we are in a world where idiots are saying smart people are ruining the world, and "just because you went to college you can't decide what is going on", and basically all around worse stuff.

The fact is that if the world was run by meritocracy instead of capitalism or communism or any other method which I have to say ALL of them are corrupted, then we could have a decent world. In capitalist nations you work and some business owners get rich and live awesome, in communist nations you work hard and some community part members and president gets rich and you don't. In all nations we have people who get rich while most of the people end up being poor and that's the problem.

It is true, from a young age in some cases they tell us: Study, train as a professional and work in a famous company, your life will be assured there, and I think not, I have always thought and agreed with the philosophy of Robert Kiyosaki that the system It is corrupt, they do not teach you from a young age about financial education, about accounting, Real Estate.

I am particularly in favor of children speaking to them about business, about Real Estate, from their formation, so that they have another type of thought, if they choose a profession that they are employers and not employees. I believe that this type of training will lead to hard work with more results and with more quality.

[Anonylz]

Your family and society expect something from you, first as a son or daughter then as a citizen,  there is a saying that goes "an idle mind is the devil's workshop" if as a person you are not engaged in any activity that will keep you busy or active you tend to be bored and think about irrelevant stuff,

Work can varies, nowadays some people don't need to work hard to achieve their "American dreams" ever heard of "born with silver spoon" yeah this category of people don't need to sweat much to have their dreams come true,
Others who fall below this category perhaps needs to work hard to achieve their dreams, and don't forget dreams also varies, depending on individual interests, does not necessarily mean having a mansion and fleets of cars

It doesn't matter how hard you work, what matters is the process taken to achieve that dream, your obligation mostly lies to your family before society,
Society can demand something but it is up to you to consider fulfilling it or not.

[amishmanish]

The "American Dream" of a suburban house with a lawn, a dog, a smiling wife, car and children was basically an invention to motivate the working classes. This image was reinforced with patriotism and the spectre of a communist takeover of the world during the cold war. America never really recovered from the values established in that time. Ayn Rand's individualism combined with the desire to always project an image of the success of free-market has pushed the American society where it is now.

The situation is different in different countries and is determined by their historical involvements in wars etc. European nations, for example, are in a much better state where patriotism is not on incessant display. America is unique in the way that corporates exploit the consumers there. Whether it is the arms sellers, survival gear markets, Self-help market, Yoga and rejuvenation market. The American corporates have a panache to take something good and turn it into a product which is then exploited to the maximum possible extent.

This is why the culture of modern slavery is applicable to Americans more than anyone else in the world.

[wxa7115]

People who succeeded worked really hard to achieve their goals in life which is what shown in the media but every people who is working hard become rich? No and never as long as they are living in a society. Only people who realized the need of working hard in the sector where people wanted to become consumer became rich for example Apple and Google.

Without a doubt working hard is a requisite to become successful, but the keyword here is requisite, you have to have it if you want to achieve long term success but just because you work hard that doesn't mean that your success is guaranteed, as we know you need a lot of things in order to become successful, in my experience very few people have the necessary money skills to achieve a success that is long term.

For what I can see many people want to live a life of luxury, and there is nothing wrong with that but that kind of lifestyle is very expensive, the people that I have known that came from a humble background and reached success do in fact spend some money on luxuries, but only on those that they really want and when it comes to the rest they are very cheap and prefer to avoid to spend money unnecessarily.

[uneng]

I think the main problem is that nowadays to live the American Dream you need to do so much better, than just work. In developing countries, it is common that the government and oligarchs simply steal the fruits of people's work. They can try very hard but never get any kind of reward, while the upper-class people buy themselves the 15th car or the third mansion.

Why do people allow themselves to be stolen? I think they actually don't, rather they sell themselves too cheap to these oligarchs in exchange of pennies and a false feeling of being cared. Most people in undeveloped countries aren't independent people who developed a critical sense. They actually need and want a ruler to tell them how to behave, what to do, what to think and everything else. That is what oligarchs do, and if you try to change this reality in benefit of these poor suffered people, you are actually going to be slandered and defamed by this same people, as they are manipulated by the oligarchs.

[Findingnemo]

snip~~
For what I can see many people want to live a life of luxury, and there is nothing wrong with that but that kind of lifestyle is very expensive, the people that I have known that came from a humble background and reached success do in fact spend some money on luxuries, but only on those that they really want and when it comes to the rest they are very cheap and prefer to avoid to spend money unnecessarily.

Good point, people don't give any importance to their savings, all they want is expensive things but they are getting all of them on loan money which should be avoided if you want to reach the success status in terms of money. Save money then buy assets or invest then buy the expensive things from the returns so you get the things you wanted with no risk and also you got assets now not the loans.

[mu_enrico]

I think the main problem is that nowadays to live the American Dream you need to do so much better, than just work. In developing countries, it is common that the government and oligarchs simply steal the fruits of people's work. They can try very hard but never get any kind of reward, while the upper-class people buy themselves the 15th car or the third mansion.

American Dream only works on capitalistic society with freedom and stuff. In developing country, they need freedom first, to be liberated from a tyrannical government that control every aspect of people's life, including economic freedom. Once the economic and political system is suitable for capitalism and meritocracy, the work becomes the most determining factor of someone's prosperity. That said, hard working slave is not equal to hard working freeman.

[SaiyanSS3]

Come to realise this American dream and work ethics is just one PONZI, speak out loud you all feel this PONZI the American dream is harming yourselves because you work hard for the dream that make you poor yet make the top of the PONZI much richer, a ponzi that send money to the richest to even richer by printing massive amount of money and give it to them without condition, this PONZI is itself toxic system we already finally feel how horrible it bring to our well being, the ponzi is always here and getting even more ridiculous, it make you work even harder even more poorer and eventually all your hard work worth nothing to this PONZI.

[wxa7115]

snip~~
For what I can see many people want to live a life of luxury, and there is nothing wrong with that but that kind of lifestyle is very expensive, the people that I have known that came from a humble background and reached success do in fact spend some money on luxuries, but only on those that they really want and when it comes to the rest they are very cheap and prefer to avoid to spend money unnecessarily.

Good point, people don't give any importance to their savings, all they want is expensive things but they are getting all of them on loan money which should be avoided if you want to reach the success status in terms of money. Save money then buy assets or invest then buy the expensive things from the returns so you get the things you wanted with no risk and also you got assets now not the loans.

This has to do with the views people have when it comes to money, many people do not really want to be rich, they want to feel rich, they want to buy anything they want without thinking on the long term consequences of doing so, so they buy a lot of things on credit since they can see immediate results but they bought all of those things with money that was not theirs and now they have to pay huge interests on those purchases.

Then if something happens, like a pandemic, they find out everything they build did not had a solid base and the they lose everything and they become bitter against the banks, government and society when it was their decision to get in so much debt, they could have waited and saved their money and could have bought most of that stuff for a cheaper price if they were just willing to wait.

[Hamphser]

snip~~
For what I can see many people want to live a life of luxury, and there is nothing wrong with that but that kind of lifestyle is very expensive, the people that I have known that came from a humble background and reached success do in fact spend some money on luxuries, but only on those that they really want and when it comes to the rest they are very cheap and prefer to avoid to spend money unnecessarily.

Good point, people don't give any importance to their savings, all they want is expensive things but they are getting all of them on loan money which should be avoided if you want to reach the success status in terms of money. Save money then buy assets or invest then buy the expensive things from the returns so you get the things you wanted with no risk and also you got assets now not the loans.

This has to do with the views people have when it comes to money, many people do not really want to be rich, they want to feel rich, they want to buy anything they want without thinking on the long term consequences of doing so, so they buy a lot of things on credit since they can see immediate results but they bought all of those things with money that was not theirs and now they have to pay huge interests on those purchases.

Then if something happens, like a pandemic, they find out everything they build did not had a solid base and the they lose everything and they become bitter against the banks, government and society when it was their decision to get in so much debt, they could have waited and saved their money and could have bought most of that stuff for a cheaper price if they were just willing to wait.

Fact!

This is the reality that we are really having that kind of mindset and i cant really deny to myself or honestly speaking im bit guilty on that stuff where you do really want things to be get immediately
via credit.

It isnt really that bad as it sounds and as long you are really that responsible on paying up those debts then thats good and it turns out to be bad if you do get things which is
already surpassed into your limit or capacity on paying those.

[Twentyonepaylots]

People should work and be given opportunities to work based on their specific talents, and ambitions. According to Abraham Maslow's hierarchy of needs, the highest on the ladder is 'Self-Actualization', which is the expressed feeling of content of an individual after achieving his/her dreams. Sure, the American Dream applies to everyone who is living a western lifestyle, but altogether, everyone should strive and work for their Self-Actualization, doesn't matter if there is someone who is living off of some of your hard-earned work, just think of it as taxation to give these people a chance to better themselves as well and reach your level.

[magneto]

100% agree.

If you take a look at the reports of first-year analysts in major BB investment banks, you'll see this in action.

People are obsessed with doing as many hours as they can and wearing 100+ hr workweeks as a badge of pride.

Not only is this counterproductive (who can work 100+ hours and say for sure that they have done everything efficiently?), it is also a way for firms to extract value from abusive practices towards their employees.

[wxa7115]

This has to do with the views people have when it comes to money, many people do not really want to be rich, they want to feel rich, they want to buy anything they want without thinking on the long term consequences of doing so, so they buy a lot of things on credit since they can see immediate results but they bought all of those things with money that was not theirs and now they have to pay huge interests on those purchases.

Then if something happens, like a pandemic, they find out everything they build did not had a solid base and the they lose everything and they become bitter against the banks, government and society when it was their decision to get in so much debt, they could have waited and saved their money and could have bought most of that stuff for a cheaper price if they were just willing to wait.

Fact!

This is the reality that we are really having that kind of mindset and i cant really deny to myself or honestly speaking im bit guilty on that stuff where you do really want things to be get immediately
via credit.

It isnt really that bad as it sounds and as long you are really that responsible on paying up those debts then thats good and it turns out to be bad if you do get things which is
already surpassed into your limit or capacity on paying those.

Credit can be a useful tool if used correctly, after all who has enough money to buy their dream house with just cash? Very few, so it makes sense to ask for a credit to banks under those circumstances, however like always it has to do with being a responsible person when it comes to our money and unfortunately this is way more uncommon than what we think.

While I have been affected by the pandemic like everyone I am in a good shape because I think long term and I held no level of debt when all of this began, but there is a lot of people that I know which are in great trouble as they lost their jobs and they were nowhere near close to pay their homes and their situation is getting worse by the day simply because they thought they could always borrow from the banks in order to fulfill their desired lifestyle and they are finding this is not the case anymore.