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> It embarrasses me that less physical effort grants me a more valuable reward Why? Just because you work hard doesn't mean you deserve more

by xux 11y ago

dragonwriter 11y ago
> Just because you work hard doesn't mean you deserve more Its a major element of the ideology associated with the Protestant work ethic, which has an important role in American culture -- and ties intimately into the way large parts of the more successful population can dismiss the less successful as being so as a result of choice and moral failing -- that hard work both does, in fact, and should, in moral ideal, result in material success. Even lots of people who intellectually reject the position are have been to some degree socialized in it and feel some dissonance when contrary facts are particularly palpable.
superuser2 11y ago
"If you work harder you will be more successful" is the fundamental axiom of American conservatism. Of course I can't speak for everyone, but the primary reason to oppose a social safety net is "those people are poor because they aren't working hard enough." This requires a belief that hard(er) work is and should be rewarded better. I'd say your claim is nonobvious. That the world is fundamentally fair, and that hard work is the most important aspect of virtue, are deep ideas in American culture and very much tied up with the American Dream (TM). Contemporary liberals typically challenge the "world is fundamentally fair" part, appealing to structural *-ism that makes this untrue for people other than white men born to financially secure parents. Few (economists, maybe) would argue that how hard you work does not influence how much you deserve.
- WalterBright 11y ago
  I would. For example, no matter how hard you work lifting a rock and setting it back down again, it produces no value and so nobody is going to pay you for it. (Ironically, people pay to lift weights at the gym, they don't get paid to! It's pretty darned hard work, too.)
  - superuser2 11y ago
    "Work" in this context would be your job, not things you do on your own initiative.

> It embarrasses me that less physical effort grants me a more valuable reward Why? Just because you work hard doesn't mean you deserve more

by xux 11y ago

> It embarrasses me that less physical effort grants me a more valuable reward Why? Just because you work hard doesn't mean you deserve more

dragonwriter 11y ago

> Just because you work hard doesn't mean you deserve more Its a major element of the ideology associated with the Protestant work ethic, which has an important role in American culture -- and ties intimately into the way large parts of the more successful population can dismiss the less successful as being so as a result of choice and moral failing -- that hard work both does, in fact, and should, in moral ideal, result in material success. Even lots of people who intellectually reject the position are have been to some degree socialized in it and feel some dissonance when contrary facts are particularly palpable.

superuser2 11y ago

"If you work harder you will be more successful" is the fundamental axiom of American conservatism. Of course I can't speak for everyone, but the primary reason to oppose a social safety net is "those people are poor because they aren't working hard enough." This requires a belief that hard(er) work is and should be rewarded better. I'd say your claim is nonobvious. That the world is fundamentally fair, and that hard work is the most important aspect of virtue, are deep ideas in American culture and very much tied up with the American Dream (TM). Contemporary liberals typically challenge the "world is fundamentally fair" part, appealing to structural *-ism that makes this untrue for people other than white men born to financially secure parents. Few (economists, maybe) would argue that how hard you work does not influence how much you deserve.

WalterBright 11y ago
I would. For example, no matter how hard you work lifting a rock and setting it back down again, it produces no value and so nobody is going to pay you for it. (Ironically, people pay to lift weights at the gym, they don't get paid to! It's pretty darned hard work, too.)
- superuser2 11y ago
  "Work" in this context would be your job, not things you do on your own initiative.