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omorkaThere is a general agreement in classical Greek philosophy and in Catholic theology that one of the important things in mortal life is to take pride in one's vocation, to treat it as a "calling" (which is what that word means). To find it worth doing as an end-in-itself, to take joy in doing it well - that is something fundamentally good (their language) or wealful (mine). As a general rule, I would agree with this, that good and honest work well done is itself wealth in the deep sense of the word.
The Catholic theologians and Luther went so far as to say that failure to seek excellence, or at least broad competence, in one's profession (ah, more religious language for one's proper work) is sinful. I wouldn't go that far, of course, not believing in "sin" per se anymore, but I would agree that deliberately choosing not to be competent is an act of harm. At the very least, it is an expression of disrespect for the G/god who gave you the talents, the world that provided the materials you work with, and the other mortals whom you are serving in your work.
The same idea seems not to appear in Protestantism after Luther and Calvin, though. There is a glorification of work - the old Protestant Work Ethic - in the Puritans, but it seems to be focused more on the idea that working is itself good for you, that "idle hands are the Devil's tools" and that thus one had better keep busy. The importance of the work itself, that it's not about your internal state but about the doing, is downplayed. And in the second and third generations of Puritans in America, the concept gets tied up in the idea that wealth in the shallow sense is itself a signal that you are one of God's chosen. This is a weird USian idea that has polluted our culture all the way down to the Prosperity Gospel churches, burnishing our weird religious veneration of Capitalism; if God is in fact Mammon, then what sign of his blessing is there other than a fat bank account and a big tacky house?
And this is pernicious for reasons other than just theology, because if the worth of the work is not in the work itself - if it is only in the payment received for the work - then there is no pride, no joy, no sense of doing right in doing low-paying work well. It means skimping, skiving, and slacking are understood to be the right and proper responses to working a minimum wage job. And it means that it is morally acceptable for someone in a higher-paid job to disrespect the work of someone in a lower-paid job, because it is by his (or her, though that's less common) definition less worthy - less worth-y - work.
I suspect this is one reason so many of my students have trouble thinking of their future careers as fulfilling in any capacity other than their earning capacity, or their college educations as anything more than job training. This is also why upper management in business thinks that they could run the schools better than educators can; they make more money than we do, so it is obvious to them that they are better, smarter, harder-working people than we are. And it's one of the reasons there is a general deference for doctors in this culture, but not nurses or EMTs; they may all save lives every day, but an opthamologist makes more money than a trauma nurse and therefore is more blessed.
I wonder when the Six Flags Over Jesus fundies are going to realize that half their congregations are Mammon-worshippers, and what they're going to do about it. The strain between the churches of Mammon and the Angry God in the Republican party seems to be getting more visible by the week, and yet the seams haven't come apart yet. (At least the Libertarians are up front about putting Mammon up front and center in their priority list.)
The Catholic theologians and Luther went so far as to say that failure to seek excellence, or at least broad competence, in one's profession (ah, more religious language for one's proper work) is sinful. I wouldn't go that far, of course, not believing in "sin" per se anymore, but I would agree that deliberately choosing not to be competent is an act of harm. At the very least, it is an expression of disrespect for the G/god who gave you the talents, the world that provided the materials you work with, and the other mortals whom you are serving in your work.
The same idea seems not to appear in Protestantism after Luther and Calvin, though. There is a glorification of work - the old Protestant Work Ethic - in the Puritans, but it seems to be focused more on the idea that working is itself good for you, that "idle hands are the Devil's tools" and that thus one had better keep busy. The importance of the work itself, that it's not about your internal state but about the doing, is downplayed. And in the second and third generations of Puritans in America, the concept gets tied up in the idea that wealth in the shallow sense is itself a signal that you are one of God's chosen. This is a weird USian idea that has polluted our culture all the way down to the Prosperity Gospel churches, burnishing our weird religious veneration of Capitalism; if God is in fact Mammon, then what sign of his blessing is there other than a fat bank account and a big tacky house?
And this is pernicious for reasons other than just theology, because if the worth of the work is not in the work itself - if it is only in the payment received for the work - then there is no pride, no joy, no sense of doing right in doing low-paying work well. It means skimping, skiving, and slacking are understood to be the right and proper responses to working a minimum wage job. And it means that it is morally acceptable for someone in a higher-paid job to disrespect the work of someone in a lower-paid job, because it is by his (or her, though that's less common) definition less worthy - less worth-y - work.
I suspect this is one reason so many of my students have trouble thinking of their future careers as fulfilling in any capacity other than their earning capacity, or their college educations as anything more than job training. This is also why upper management in business thinks that they could run the schools better than educators can; they make more money than we do, so it is obvious to them that they are better, smarter, harder-working people than we are. And it's one of the reasons there is a general deference for doctors in this culture, but not nurses or EMTs; they may all save lives every day, but an opthamologist makes more money than a trauma nurse and therefore is more blessed.
I wonder when the Six Flags Over Jesus fundies are going to realize that half their congregations are Mammon-worshippers, and what they're going to do about it. The strain between the churches of Mammon and the Angry God in the Republican party seems to be getting more visible by the week, and yet the seams haven't come apart yet. (At least the Libertarians are up front about putting Mammon up front and center in their priority list.)
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Date: 2007-12-03 05:02 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2007-12-03 03:14 pm (UTC)