>> This is an innate, selfish need we all have but one that belongs entirely to us and us alone. > Or it is protestant work ethic overgeneralized. The Protest

>> This is an innate, selfish need we all have but one that belongs entirely to us and us alone. > Or it is protestant work ethic overgeneralized. The Protestant view would be that the "innate, selfish need we all have", as OP put it, is to serve in some way; and what differentiates people from one another isn't whether we serve, but whom we serve. > And it has failure modes, namely not all hard work is blessed, or it was not the case that "arbeit macht frei". Work is and always will be inherently hard or toilsome in some way. We may not have sweat on our brow, but we all do have hard and frustrating aspects to the work we do... I don't think protestants would call all work "blessed".