Some say the work ethic is dead; others amusingly claim it’s on a respirator. Regardless of the status of this cultural bedrock we should take pause to seriously examine this cultural bedrock.
This nation has been blessed for many reasons, but in matters of work, historically there has been a peculiar relationship between work and wages or work and wealth. We do know that one of the fundamental aspects of leadership is acquiring early on the work ethic. For children, their work is studying; that is, working hard to achieve the best possible grades in work they can. Those Students who perform well are usually touted as “most likely to succeed.” Acquiring the work ethic early is an indicator of future leadership.
A colleague from Jamaica said she grew up with this particularly ditty: “Labor for learning before you grow old, for learning is better than silver or gold. Silver and gold vanish away, but a good education will never decay.”
In the U.S., there have been peculiar relationships between work and wages and work and wealth. African Americans, devastated by centuries of chattel slavery and enforced illiteracy, learned hard work meant nothing while slave owners grew fat off the land. Blacks must have wondered whether hard work would ever get them anywhere.
Immigrants too must have wondered how they could achieve the same thing after unwittingly being lured here for cheap labor. After the Civil War emancipation, Blacks joined immigrants in doing the hardest, and dirtiest work for the lowest wages. Hence, hard work does not always pay off. This realization tarnishes the American Dream.
Of course, these were not the only groups that were economically exploited. There were others whose freshness and creativity, which continues to contributed to America’s success, were surreptitiously claimed by others. Whether it’s in music, sports, science or inventions, the contributions of these hard working Americans have just recently begun being properly recognized and/or rewarded.
The U.S.A has become the world juggernaut due in large part to free and cheap (now undocumented) labor, along with the constant influx of immigrants that revitalized and replenished its power and abundance. Many immigrants come with the expectation of working hard and getting rich. They have had little experience with economic exploitation, so they take more risks. Many of them were were entrepreneurs in their own country. The most recent wave included computer specialists who fueled the ‘90s technology boomn.
Some studies show that immigrants do better economically than native-born Americans across the ethnic spectrum. Currently, the highest per capita income group in this country is Chinese -Americans, surpassing even White Americans.
When workers see corporate executives making behemoth hefty salaries with huge stock options and bonuses;when students side-step eaching or social work careers because the salary is not enough; when big-time mobsters (fictional and non-fictional) are revered; when tax breaks are increasingly given to the wealthy while programs for low-and-moderate income families are gutted n it does little to encourage the work ethic. These contradictions must be reconciled if we are to instill the importance of, and be examples for, this value in our young.
F
Perhaps we’re losing faith in the covenant of “earning it the old-fashion way.” But, while there are slackers, vast income disparities are very problematic, too. First, we have to adequately compensate people for their work. And second, we have to better instill the fundamental value of work in education.
Contradictory practices and messages about work are conveyed to be found in American history and culture; it’s still a good, golden rule: But even so, if we want to get ahead, we still have to work hard.
As renowned educator Dr. Benjamin Mays once said: “He who starts behind in the great race of life must forever remain behind or run faster than the man in front.”
Malaika Horne, Ph.D., is director of the Executive Leadership Institute in the College of Business Administration at UMSL