The Protestant Work Ethic: Just Another Urban Legend Summary

Introduction: In 2011, famous American psychologist, Marsha Linehan, removed herself from solitude and spoke out about her struggle with a mental illness, expressing feelings of “being in hell” and memories of being in an institute of living at age seventeen. Although psychologists and mental health experts seem to be one of the strongest assets to society in a mental aspect, they tend to struggle with mental illness more than the general population. Linehan 's confession, was a shock to many, and it should come as a surprise that she is one of many mental health professionals that lives with a mental illness. Although psychologists struggle with mental health issues more than the general population, it may be helpful to their profession.

Americans are still achieving their dreams today by working hard. In the essay “They Live the Dream,” Dan Rather stated, “Delores Kesler… began her career at twenty-two with a series of dead-end jobs, struggling to make ends meet” (41). She was trying to provide for her child,

Spending their wealth on luxurious items was seen to be disrespectful to God and as a result people expected to pour their earnings into their callings. This has close ties with the capitalist ethic. From this ethic, according to Weber, a system of capitalism emerged that no longer required ascetic values to sustain itself. These became the capitalist spirit. Working hard and worshiping, activities held in high regards by Protestants contributed to what we seen in contemporary society as being the capitalist ethic.

In a time where America’s economy was at its low, much work was necessary to rebuild the economy. Those times are revolutionary in history because they are crucial to development, during WWI a lot of progress was achieved, most of it at expenses of peoples lives and believes. However, that is not the case of Henry Ford Model T car and overall work practices. It is true that people made great fortune at expense of others misfortune, but I don’t believe that is enough reason for us to generalize.

The business guys were very self-centered and didn’t care about the well-being of their employees. They demanded an abundant amount of back breaking work from their employee with no incentives for them. Many workers were getting annoyed with their bosses and wanted a change from them. the occurrence of The Working Man’s Prayer is a sarcastic critique of Andrew Carnegie’s philanthropy. In this critique, it is said how Carnegie lowers the pay of workers, how the workers are compared to slaves, and it says Carnegie spends workers’ wages in pleasuring himself with travels and goods.

Another way this is shown is with this quote from an article from Big Think: “I realized that pursuing life 's opportunities is dependent more on me and what actions I take than many of those external factors. . . the American dream is alive in each of us who wish to move forward and make a contribution to the place we work and to

The blue-collar work force has been the building block for many centuries, even without directly realizing it. In “Blue Collar Brilliance” the author Mike Rose discusses how his mother strengthened social and memory skills which allowed her to excel in her job as a waitress. Mike Rose realized everything that although his mother was smart in her own respect, working without a proper education is not all that it is cracked up to be. For example, blue collar jobs may require reading, but it is reading symbols.

Providing the example of Steve Jobs, the creator of Apple, she says the people who work under Jobs break their backs at factories, yet he never credits the workers’ efforts to his overall success. Tokumitsu points out that the DWYL mantra is narcissistic for those who are overpaid for less labor, while those tricked into believing they love their job are less valued for the overall

Callahan McArthur                                                                                                         1 Ms. Armstrong AP English 11 23 Sep 2016 Rhetorical Analysis     Ellen Goodman’s “The Company Man is about a workaholic named Phil who would spend his free time working himself into his own demise. She uses a few different rhetorical terms to convey her point of view. The author uses irony, sarcastic tone, and symbolism to show that she thinks that that some Americans only focus on work and should be focusing on more important things such as family.     Goodman uses irony to show that Phil’s beliefs were insignificant and wrong.

In his essay, “On Laziness”, Christopher Morley persuades his audience that laziness is a virtuous trait rather than a shameful one through the use of irony, diction, historical allusions, and logical reasoning. Morley utilizes irony to describe the consequences of having a good work ethic. He states, “We have been hustling about for a number of years now, and it doesn’t seem to get us anything but tribulation…. It is the bustling man who always get put on committees, who is asked to solve the problems of other people and neglect his own.” The irony in this statement is that as people try hard to prove that they are responsible beings, they bury themselves in piles of responsibility even though they do not want it.

Working is one of the many tasks that most adults have to endure. As for Phil, work was not just a task, but was a life commitment that took valuable time away. Ellen Goodman describes her stance of this issue in the piece, “The Company Man,” by employing repetition of important phrases and by showcasing the irony of Paul’s life. This conveys a sense of sympathy for Paul and his family and disapproval of his actions, who let his work consume his life, leading to his death. To begin, the use of repetition allowed Ellen Goodman to show her critical attitude and pity towards Phil.

Mike Rose author of “Blue Collar Brilliance” he reminisces about his childhood and how he was observing his mother at work and how much she multitasked and how he experienced the blue collar work. His purpose was to describe how people integrate physical and mental work is in the field and supports people in the blue collar field. I felt as if I was at a dead end job and earning nothing from it, but Mike Rose’s article influenced me that I was actually learning and gaining skills at my work place. His intended audience would be blue collared workers and white collar workers. Rose informing that blue collar workers are also educated people even though they do not have a degree.

At the beginning of the 20th century, the United States was booming with new industrial innovations because of new technologies, and it was becoming one of the leading economies in the world. This economic boom came to a sharp halt as events such as the Great Depression and the Dust Bowl hit, causing millions of Americans to face economic struggles. “The Strenuous Life,” a speech given by Theodore Roosevelt, displays the ideas of American work ethics that led to economic growth in the early 1900s. These ideals of work ethic not only prompted the cause of the Dust Bowl, but were continued on into the lives of the affected farmers as Americans displaced and in poverty from this event continued to participate in migrant work with awful living

Braverman’s deskilling concept According to Attewell (1987) Braverman starts with an argument that was made by Marx (1967), which stated that employees sell only their ability to work. Management must ensure that this ability is turned into work performed by the employees which will lead to profitability. Additionally, Braverman takes into consideration three implications that result from the argument made by Marx.

The American Dream: Happiness The key to achieving the American dream is to live life happy. No matter if it is happiness with money, love, freedom, or safety all people deserve the American dream. Everyone has their own way of pursuing an "American dream". Many immigrants have come to America to pursue that dream.