Work Ethic

So two of my children are now graduated from high school, and have moved on to college.  They are also talking a lot about working (as I did through school).  I'm hoping they'll do more than talk about it, though.  As always, the issues surrounding proper raising of my children provoke in me a strong tendency to navel-gazing.  So, for the next few posts, I'll be spewing forth some of those thoughts about work ethic, and how to get one.

It used to be taken for granted in the United States, and frankly, most everywhere else, that the responsible use of one's time, money, or any other assets which could be used to produce goods, services, and in the end, income, was an affirmative good; in fact, it was considered to be the duty of each and every citizen.  This idea of marshaling all of one's time, skills, brains, capital, resources and connections toward production of something valuable and worthwhile is known as the "work ethic." A strong work ethic has been at the root of the achievements of every successful person, company, community and nation.  This is right and proper, and furthermore, an immutable law of life.

However, in recent decades, it seems that people no longer subscribe to this idea.  To the modern young person of the day, work ethic seems to represent a caving in of one's principles, a cowardly act of submission to "the man."  Many oppose the traditional work ethic, proclaiming that in their brave new world of technology, more will be produced with less, and there will be no need to work hard, just the need to work enough.  Some people today talk about the evils of the J-O-B, so phrased, as nothing more than misplaced loyalty to classes higher than your own, destined to enrich others at the expense of your blood sweat and tears.  Others are just too goddamned lazy to even consider that hard work may be of some value to them.  In truth, I have some sympathy with all of these people.

However, they are wrong, and the problem is deeper than the lifestyle designers would let you believe; it cannot be solved simply by changing your definition of work.  You can curse those uptight Pilgrims, and laugh at the nose-to-the-grindstone mentality of generations that came before us - but before you do, it bears remembering that no nation, community, company, or any group worth a tinker's damn was every created by a bunch of lazy-asses.

Life is not easy, and if you want anything good out of it, you will be required to work hard to get it - and if you're reading this, I'll wager that you'll have to work harder than you ever have to get it. Honestly, if you were working hard enough, you probably wouldn't be reading a blog post about getting a work ethic.  Accept that truth, mull it over, think about it, chew it up, digest it, make it part of yourself.  It bears repeating: if you are dissatisfied with your life in any way - any way - it means you aren't working hard enough.  You are too lazy.  You are not willing to do what it takes to have the life you want.

But never fear - you are in a club with a great many members.  You can continue to sit on your ass, doing less than you could, and you'll never be alone.  If you're reading this you want more.  In that case, also, never fear.  I spent a good deal of my adult life lazier than I should have been.  Through a good deal of trial and error, I learned how to develop my work ethic and cast off (most of) my laziness.  In the next few days, I'll offer some suggestions.