ROFIATUS SYAMSIAH
ENGLISH’08
The Work Ethic in America
Although the Protestant ethic became a significant
factor in shaping the culture and society of Europe after the sixteenth
century, its impact did not eliminate the social hierarchy which gave status to
those whose wealth allowed exemption from toil and made gentility synonymous
with leisure (Rodgers, 1978). The early adventurers who first found America
were searching, not for a place to work and build a new land, but for a new
Eden where abundance and riches would allow them to follow Aristotle's instruction
that leisure was the only life fitting for a free man. The New England
Puritans, the Pennsylvania Quakers, and others of the Protestant sects, who
eventually settled in America, however, came with no hopes or illusions of a
life of ease.
The early settlers referred to America as a
wilderness, in part because they sought the spiritual growth associated with
coming through the wilderness in the Bible (Rodgers, 1978). From their
viewpoint, the moral life was one of hard work and determination, and they approached
the task of building a new world in the wilderness as an opportunity to prove
their own moral worth. What resulted was a land preoccupied with toil.
When significant numbers of Europeans began to
visit the new world in the early 1800's, they were amazed with the extent of
the transformation (Rodgers, 1978). Visitors to the northern states were
particularly impressed by the industrious pace. They often complained about the
lack of opportunities for amusement, and they were perplexed by the lack of a
social strata dedicated to a life of leisure.
Work in preindustrial America was not incessant,
however. The work of agriculture was seasonal, hectic during planting and
harvesting but more relaxed during the winter months. Even in workshops and
stores, the pace was not constant. Changing demands due to the seasons, varied
availability of materials, and poor transportation and communication
contributed to interruptions in the steadiness of work. The work ethic of this
era did not demand the ceaseless regularity which came with the age of
machines, but supported sincere dedication to accomplish those tasks a person
might have before them. The work ethic "was not a certain rate of business
but a way of thinking" (Rodgers, 1978, p. 19).
Tidak ada komentar:
Posting Komentar