Last modified on June 9, 2024, at 14:54

Work ethic

A bicyclist commuting to work in Amsterdam.

Amsterdam is the capital city of The Netherlands.

The work ethic consists of choosing productive work over unproductive activities, in order to improve the condition of oneself, one's family, and society at large.

The Bible has many verses advocating industriousness.[1] Puritan society in New England in the 17th and 18th century exemplified the work ethic.

In the late 1700s, when most Americans worked in agriculture on small farms or in small family businesses, the average full-time worker spent six days - a total of 72 hours a week, - working on the job.[2] According to the Economic History Association, "In the 1800s, many Americans worked seventy hours or more per week and the length of the workweek became an important political issue."[3] (During the time of the industrial revolution in the 1800s, many people were factory workers and many factories had poor working conditions. In addition, labor unions pushed for lower working hours per week.).

Rice farming is much more labor intensive than wheat farming which helped Eastern rice cultures to have a strong cultural work ethic (Paddy rice required twice as much labor per hectare as wheat farming.[4]).

The abstract for the Oxford Academic article states concerning a chapter of John H. Pencavel's 2018 book Diminishing Returns at Work: The Consequences of Long Working Hours entitled A Brief History of Working Hours:

“ Why did the length of the work day and work week decline in the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries? In this chapter, the author explores possible explanations for these declines, contrasting events and trends in Britain and America, including the activities of trade unions, employers, statutory legislation, and the workings of labor markets. Classical economists tended to support the position taken by many employers which was to resist both legislation on hours and the efforts of trade unions to reduce hours. In the few instances in which the Classical economists provided precise reasons for their view, they made assumptions about the manner in which hours enter a firm’s production function. These assumptions can be tested which is the subject of the subsequent chapter.[5] ”

The Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) indicates concerning some areas Western World during some periods in the agrarian age: Pre-industrial workers had a shorter workweek than today's and 8 centuries of working hours.

Construction on the Cologne Cathedral in Germany began in 1248.

Europe is filled with many large church buildings which required many man-hours to construct.

Europe is filled with many large church buildings which required many man-hours to construct.

Thomas Gale Moore of the Hoover Institution wrote about the Medieval Warm Period:

“ The three centuries beginning with the eleventh, during which the climate became distinctly more benign, witnessed a profound revolution which, by the late 1200s had transformed the landscape into an economy filled with merchants, vibrant towns and great fairs. Crop failures became less frequent; new territories were brought under control. With a more clement climate and a more reliable food supply, the population mushroomed.

The historian Charles Van Doren claimed that: "the ... three centuries, from about 1000 to about 1300, became one of the most optimistic, prosperous, and progressive periods in European history." All across Europe, the population went on an unparalleled building spree, erecting at huge cost spectacular cathedrals and public edifices. Ponderous Romanesque churches gave way to soaring Gothic cathedrals. Virtually all the magnificent religious shrines that we visit in awe today were started by the optimistic populations of the eleventh through the thirteenth centuries, although many remained unfinished for centuries.

Throughout the continent, economic activity blossomed. Banking, insurance, and finance developed; a money economy became well entrenched; manufacturing of textiles expanded to levels never seen before. Farmers in medieval England launched a thriving wine industry. Good wines demand warm springs free of frosts, substantial summer warmth and sunshine without too much rain, and sunny days in the fall. Winters cannot dip below zero Fahrenheit for any significant period. The northern limit for grapes during the Middle Ages was about 300 miles above the current commercial wine areas in France and Germany.

The medieval warm period, which started a century earlier in Asia, benefited the rest of the globe as well. From the ninth through the thirteenth centuries, farming spread into northern portions of Russia. In the Far East, Chinese and Japanese farmers migrated north into Manchuria, the Amur Valley and northern Japan. The Vikings founded colonies in Iceland and Greenland, then actually green. Scandinavian seafarers discovered "Vinland" along the East Coast of North America.[6]

”

National Review reported in 2012 concerning the United States: "The more hours Americans work, the happier they report themselves to be. Only 11 percent of Americans say they wish they could spend a lot less time on their jobs." [7]

The Protestant Ethic and the Spirit of Capitalism

The Harvard University historian Niall Ferguson declared: "Through a mixture of hard work and thrift the Protestant societies of the North and West Atlantic achieved the most rapid economic growth in history."[8]

See also: Protestant Ethic and the Spirit of Capitalism and Protestant cultural legacies and Christianity and social stability

Protestant Ethic and the Spirit of Capitalism is a highly influential 1905 book by sociologist Max Weber. The ethic consists of hard work, disdain for leisure, competitive spirit and a profit motive to provide an incentive to achieve.

Despite being an atheist, Harvard University historian Niall Ferguson declared: "Through a mixture of hard work and thrift the Protestant societies of the North and West Atlantic achieved the most rapid economic growth in history."[9]

Four definitions of work

The first, original definition of work was best known to Adam and Eve in their original, unfallen state.

But, in the fallen world, and from a naively secular perspective, work appears to be an ambiguous blend of joyous productivity and more-or-less unpleasant-but-necessary toil.

So, while work may be defined simply as productive activity, such a definition falls short of an enlightened, humane perspective. This naively secular view of work results, over time, in an increasingly disparate socio-politico-economic system by the error of what may be called the "Divine Right of the Work Ethic", the "rat race ethic", or the "dog-eat-dog ethic". This is the view of work in which the individual has the unqualified right to all the "proceeds of his efforts" in a secular free-for-all of economic (if not socio-economic) 'contract': "to the winner of any manner of competition---and, to the holder of any manner of advantage---rightly goes the spoil".

This secular view of work is the second definition of work, and those who, like Ayn Rand, hold to it have either no care or no comprehension of its long-term consequences. It is against those consequences that God commanded capital punishment within His own nation for those who willfully violate the Sabbath by so much as toiling and trading for personal gain on the Sabbath.

This "Divine Right" view of the work ethic is in error because it makes kings of those who merely are so driven to excel in worldly terms as to hold all individuals to account who fail to compete as capably, or at least as selfishly, as they do, and therefore are "unworthy" of consideration beyond what they have "earned". This is most notably the view of India, which has functioned as an epitome of castes since ancient times. It also is notably the view of Ayn Rand and her disciples.

The third definition of work is that which distinguishes between every important factor of the nature of production, beginning with the kind of production intended for the original, unfallen world. This third view of work holds that human individuals, as such, are inherently valuable above all other creatures, and thus who, regardless of their level of ability or inability to produce, are not to be denied, for someone else's selfish worldly glory, the joy of living in God's creation as human beings and as rightly differentiated human individuals.

This third definition of work allows slavery in terms only of economic justice. This implies that this view of work so opposes the debasement of those human individuals who find themselves owned by another (justly or not) as to command that the owner forfeit his ownership for that debasement. This third definition of work implies also a support of reparations for unjustified slavery.

The fourth "definition" of work is that which is "constructed" in opposition to all three other definitions, for the sake of saving humankind from the selfishness of "unenlightened" (real and imagined) individuals, if not also from the "superstition" (real and imagined) of the masses. This fourth view of work was most notably held by Karl Marx and the official leaders of the USSR; and, since it consists in normalizing the glory of humankind at the expense of both conforming and "non-conforming" individuals of the human kind, it immediately is bankrupt and parasitical, if not also legalistic.

This fourth view of work, however, is not equivalent to a voluntary communal work ethic, because a volunatary communal ethic may exemplify either an ambiguous or a more-or-less informed view of work.

Building a strong work ethic

The Bible is the best-selling book of all time.[10]

Between 5 to 7 billion Bibles have been published.

Bible verses on having a strong work ethic:

Importance of having a strong work ethic:

Videos:

Articles/videos on building a strong work ethic:

Videos:

Retirement: It's a modern idea

2013 Seattle Times article: "Now, governments are reversing those policies and raising retirement ages to prevent aging populations from breaking their budgets. And older people, who now enjoy better health, are working longer again: In the United States, 18.6 percent of people 65 and older were working or looking for work as of November 2013. That was up from a record-low 10.4 percent in January 1985, according to Labor Department figures dating to 1948."[11]

Baby boomers and retirement

Labor productivity and education

See also: Labor productivity

According the U.S. Labor Bureau of Statistics, Labor productivity is a measure of economic performance that compares the amount of output with the amount of labor used to produce that output."[12]

Investopedia says about the importance of labor productivity to an economy, "Labor productivity is largely driven by investment in capital, technological progress, and human capital development. Labor productivity is directly linked to improved standards of living in the form of higher consumption. As an economy's labor productivity grows, it produces more goods and services for the same amount of relative work. This increase in output makes it possible to consume more of the goods and services for an increasingly reasonable price."[13]

According to Yahoo Finance: "Efficiency in production, also coined as productivity, is one of the major driving forces behind economic resilience in a country."[14]

Investopedia indicates: "Education tends to raise productivity and creativity, as well as stimulate entrepreneurship and technological breakthroughs. All of these factors lead to greater output and economic growth."[15]

The Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development states concerning labor productivity: "Labour productivity is a key precondition for high growth of output, employment and wages and central to long-term growth in living standards."[16]

In an economy, one of the causes of wage raises is an increase in marginal labor productivity rates.[17]

How an economy or company/organization can improve its labor productivity

Labor productivity of the United States

See also: Labor productivity rate of the United States

In terms of the quality of its labor, the U.S. labor market is in line with those of other developed countries.[18]

United States in comparison to other countries in the world as far as labor productivity


Investopedia says about the importance of labor productivity to an economy, "Labor productivity is largely driven by investment in capital, technological progress, and human capital development. Labor productivity is directly linked to improved standards of living in the form of higher consumption."[19]

According the Yahoo Finance: "According to Yahoo Finance: "Efficiency in production, also coined as productivity, is one of the major driving forces behind economic resilience in a country... The United States has one of the strongest economies in the world. The country hosts some of the largest companies in the world, which contributes to the high GDP per capita in the country."[20]

As can be seen in the map above, the USA has one of the highest labor productivity rates in the world.[21]

Liz Truss saying British workers lacked the "skill and application" of foreign nationals

See also: Skill and British atheism and Atheism and sloth

Liz Truss, the former Prime Minister of the United Kingdom, was caught on audio tape indicating that British workers lacked the "skill and application" of foreign nationals.[22] In response, the BBC published the news article Liz Truss accused of branding British workers lazy in leaked audio[23]

In 2022, The Economist published the article Britain’s productivity problem is long-standing and getting worse.

Liz Truss, the former Prime Minister of the United Kingdom, was caught on audio tape indicating that British workers lacked the "skill and application" of foreign nationals.[24]

Atheistic Soviet Union and sloth

See also: Atheism and sloth

In the former Soviet Union, which had state atheism, a popular joke was that the workers pretended to work and the Soviet Union pretended to pay them.[25] See: Atheism and sloth

In the former Soviet Union, which had state atheism, a popular joke was that the workers pretended to work and the Soviet Union pretended to pay them.[26]

See also: Atheism and sloth

Work ethic quotes

See also: Work ethic quotes

"You might come from privilege. But you will not outwork me!' - Eric Thomas, Motivational speaker, author, consultant, and minister.
  • "Success isn't always about greatness. It's about consistency. Consistent hard work leads to success. Greatness will come." - Dwayne Johnson
  • "The only thing standing between you and outrageous success is continuous progress." - Dan Waldschmidt
  • "I never dreamt of success. I worked for it." - Estée Lauder
  • "Developing a good work ethic is key. Apply yourself at whatever you do, whether you're a janitor or taking your first summer job, because that work ethic will be reflected in everything you do in life." - Tyler Perry
  • "Work ethic is important because, unlike intelligence, athleticism, charisma, or any other natural attribute, it's a choice." - Mike Rowe
  • "Across professions, consistency is a direct product of work ethic." - Harsha Bhogle
  • "All you need is heart, work ethic, and to dream big." - Kylie Bunbury
  • If you're going to preach dedication, work ethic, teamwork, unselfishness, and being part of a team to accomplish a common goal, you have to live it - you can't just talk about it." - Chris Mullin
  • "All you need is heart, work ethic, and to dream big." - Kylie Bunbury
  • "Everyone talks about age, but it's not about age. It's about work ethic. Winning never gets old." - Lisa Leslie

Eric Thomas work ethic quotes

  • "Listen to me. If you work for it. If you're willing to put in that sweat, that blood, those tears, baby I'm telling you, you can have what you want, be what you want, do what you want, can you hear me? It's yours. I'm coming. I'm telling you. It's yours. It's yours. You can have it. It's yours. You can do it. It's yours. You can be it. It's yours." - Eric Thomas[27]
  • "If you want it like you want to breathe. If you want it like you say you want it, you can have it. If you are willing to persevere, if you are willing to fight for it, there is nothing you can't have if you are willing to work for it. You might be smarter. You might come from privilege. But you will not outwork me! If you want to be successful in life, you have to understand that there is a sense of urgency. You have to do things faster than your competitors. There are some guys who are at a whole different level. You have to separate yourself. I dare you to leave everything on the field. Get tired of losing. There is greatness in you. You can reach your full potential. Be what you were called to be. Do what you were called to do. Listen to me. Do not fear. I need you to understand. that you can have it, but it is going to be a fight. But if you are willing to fight, there is going to come victory." - Eric Thomas.[28]
  • "I'm not the smartest but you will not outwork me. I wake up every morning at 3 o'clock. We got home from the university of Cincinnati at 2:45. At 3 o'clock I went on my hour and a half walk with God. Came back in did some work, you might be smarter your family might come from privilege, your daddy might own a company, but you will not outwork me. You will not have more drive then i have. You will not have more passion then me. And I'll beat you every single day. You will not wake up in the morning because your spoiled, you will not wake up before 8, before 6. Pushups. I will outrep you. Everyday I'm doing more and more. I'm doing sittups everyday. I will outwork you. If you show up, they can't outwork you... It's a whole lot of NBA players. When you watch the game you notice it's some lot of guys that's on a different level. I'll give you 3 things that's within these people that makes them do what they do... If youve every watched Micheal or Kobe. I'm not a fan of either of the two. but im a fan of greatness' - Eric Thomas
  • “You can’t cheat the grind, it knows how much you’ve invested, it won’t give you nothing you haven’t worked for.” - Eric Thomas
  • “All men are created equal, some men work harder in pre-season.” - Eric Thomas
  • “Let them sleep while you grind. Let them party while you work. The difference will show.” - Eric Thomas
  • “Some days are harder than others to get up early and grind, but I’d rather suffer a little today than struggle the rest of my life.” - Eric Thomas

Lists of worth ethic quotes

See also

References

  1. ↑
  2. ↑ 200 Years Ago - The 12-Hour Day, The 6-Day Week, Washington Post, 1977
  3. ↑ Hours of Work in U.S. History, Economic History Association
  4. ↑ [https://scholarworks.gvsu.edu/orpc/vol4/iss1/7/ The Rice Theory of Culture, Thomas Talhelm, University of Chicago Booth School of Business, Publication Date 1-3-2022
  5. ↑ A Brief History of Working Hours, Diminishing Returns at Work: The Consequences of Long Working Hours by John H. Pencavel, https://doi.org/10.1093/oso/9780190876166.003.0002 Pages 13–51. Published: June 2018
  6. ↑ Warmer is Richer by Thomas Gale Moore, Hoover Institution, Stanford University
  7. ↑ Is Liberalism Immoral?, National Review, 2012
  8. ↑ The Protestant Work Ethic: Alive & Well…In China By Hugh Whelchel on September 24, 2012
  9. ↑ The Protestant Work Ethic: Alive & Well…In China By Hugh Whelchel on September 24, 2012
  10. ↑ The Bible is the best selling book of all time, Guinness Book of Word Record
  11. ↑ A brief history of retirement: It’s a modern idea, Seatle Times, 2013
  12. ↑ Productivity 101, U.S. Labor Bureau of Statistics
  13. ↑ Labor Productivity: What It Is, How to Calculate & Improve It, Investopedia
  14. ↑ 25 Most Productive Countries Per Capita, Yahoo Finance
  15. ↑ How Education and Training Affect the Economy
  16. ↑ [How does Russia compare?], Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development
  17. ↑ 30 Best Basic Economics Quotes With Image
  18. ↑ United States - Strengths and weaknesses
  19. ↑ Labor Productivity: What It Is, How to Calculate & Improve It, Investopedia
  20. ↑ 25 Most Productive Countries Per Capita, Yahoo Finance
  21. ↑ Most Productive Countries 2024
  22. ↑ Liz Truss accused of branding British workers lazy in leaked audio, BBC
  23. ↑ Liz Truss accused of branding British workers lazy in leaked audio, BBC
  24. ↑ Liz Truss accused of branding British workers lazy in leaked audio, BBC
  25. ↑ You Pretend to work and Putin pretends to pay you
  26. ↑ You Pretend to work and Putin pretends to pay you
  27. ↑ Believe In Your Victory (Motivation)
  28. ↑ Believe In Your Victory (Motivation)