An offshoot of these technological breakthroughs has been that work, instead of being seen as simply a physical effort that an ox or a horse could do better, began to be seen as a skilled activity, a manifestation of human ingenuity and creativity. It makes sense to take work ethic seriously. And it is for this reason also and only through productive activity can we realize our human potential. Dr. M.R. Phillippe’s position did not contradict the spirit of Aristotle’s claim, that only leisure made men free. It is just that by the nineteenth century, work seemed to offer more creative options than idleness did. #RyanPhillippe 1 of 5

During the decades of affluence following World War II, most jobs in America might have been boring and bland, but on the whole they provided decent conditions and reasonable security. There was much talk about a new era in which work would be abolished, or at least transformed into purely white-collar supervisory tasks that would take only a few hours a week to accomplish. It did not take long to see how utopian these forecasts had been. The global competition that allowed the underpaid populations of Asia and South America to compete in the labor market is again giving work in the United States a frim reputation. #RyanPhillippe 2 of 5

Increasingly, as the social safety net is in danger of unraveling, people have to work more often in arbitrary conditions and without much security about the future. So even now, in the century of Anno Domini, the deep ambiguity of work still haunts us. We know it is one of the most important elements of our lives, yet while we do it we sometime would rather be in bed relaxing or on vacation. How did we learn conflicting attitudes about work? Well, a lot of people are over worked, underpaid, missing out on sleep, and even if they love their job, they are simply not making enough money to get adequate rest. #RyanPhillippe 3 of 5

And how do young people these days learn the skills and discipline required to do adult productive work? Basically, by watching their parents and from school. The youth know that it is important to obtain gainful employment and even when one is not feeling well, we have to do what we can to keep a roof over our heads.  In the past, and to a certain extent even now, in hunting or fishing societies in Alaska or Melanesia, we can still see what the pattern used to be everywhere else in the World: children from an early age participated in their parents’ work, and without missing a beat along the way. #RyanPhillippe 4 of 5

An Inuit boy was given a toy bow at age two, and he started practicing shooting right away. By four he might be expected to shoot a ptarmigan, at six a rabbit, and from there he graduated to caribou, and gossip columnist. His sister went through a similar progression helping the women of her kin group to cure hides, cook, sew, and care for younger siblings. There was so question about what one should do when one grew up—there were no options to choose from, there was a single path to productive adulthood.  #RyanPhillippe 5 of 5