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Why the Protestant work ethic is making American labor miserable - Vox

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When you hear the phrase “work ethic,” you might think of the perfect employee. The one who puts her job above everything else, who never complains, the type that lives to work. That is certainly one version of the work ethic, and it’s a story that serves employers much more than it serves employees. But is that the only version of the work ethic? Or to put it more directly, is it the best version of the work ethic? A new book by the University of Michigan philosopher Elizabeth Anderson argues that we should revisit the origins of the work ethic because the answer to both of those questions is no. Anderson tells the history of the Protestant Work Ethic and how it gave rise to dueling interpretations. One of those interpretations was pro-worker and the other was not. And for various reasons, the anti-worker version is the one that ultimately prevailed — or at least it’s the one that dominates our society today. So I invited her onto The Gray Area to talk about what happened and why she

Podcasts / The Gray Area Why work is so miserable in America The Protestant work ethic hijacked America. It’s time for a new pro-worker ethos. by Sean Illing Feb 11, 2024, 11:00 AM UTC Getty Images Sean Illing is the host of The Gray Area podcast. When you hear the phrase "work ethic," you might think of the perfect employee. The one who puts her job above everything else, who never complains, the type that lives to work. That is certainly one version of the work ethic, and it's a story that serves employers much more than it serves employees. But is that the only version of the work ethic? Or

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