In the American culture, the idea of being a work horse is celebrated. If someone says, “Jennifer was the first one into the office, and the last to leave,” that is considered a compliment. If we look at work through the lens of some other cultures, say Canadian, European, or Australian, they have a very different approach. The Canadian culture doesn’t live to work, it works to live. Europeans have a four day work week. Australian culture values fun, or enjoyment of life over being a slave to one’s job.
Our Country’s success was built on hard work, but so was our dependence on luxury. As a culture, we have become so materialistic, that it often feels impossible to just keep up. While working hard does lead to much financial success, it can sometimes leave us feeling bankrupt in the personal department.
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It is an interesting topic you chose to talk about. It is one in which I have thought about a lot actually and it is nice to know I am not the only one. I was unaware of how different our country is to so many others. It was fun to hear the different ways each country views their work life. I agree that our culture has become very materialistic and that it is sometimes hard to keep up. Listening to some people I have met, it seems that even within our own country there are different views on this topic. I have met a few different people from the mid west who have come out to California and talk to me about the difference of materialism, and enjoying the simple things in life. It is something that would be intriguing to research more upon.
ReplyDeleteI would have to agree with you about how the consumeristic culture of the United States relies on the fact that people have to work 40+ hours a week in order to live the so called "American Dream". Our agreed upon cultural definitions of success and happiness strongly correlate with our hard work ethic and the "things" that we own.
ReplyDeleteFrom the constructionist perspective, I can see that these ideals of hard work ethic were instilled upon me from infancy. I had a father who worked graveyard shifs at a restaraunt, while he slept much of the day just to be able to return to his night shift. I don't know if you have ever read Karl Marx, but he talked a lot about how people work in order to go buy food and shelter. Food and shelter then nourish the worker enough to simply return to work all over again. It is a never ending cycle in which work becomes more important than personal happiness or the personal relationships that can have more meaning than money.