I was raised in the Midwest, in Iowa, to be exact. We inherited, as children, the Work Ethic from our parents and grandparents, even though some were academics. Everyone in my family, cousins, brothers, uncles, aunts, work hard and still do. But, I am in a country where the culture is different. Now, to be fair, if one did not work on the prairie, one would probably die. My ancestors were on the Oregon Trail. They had to work hard. They had to survive and did. My European ancestors worked in Europe. They were government officials, politicians, judges, dairy farmers, writers, mothers, priests, nuns. They worked hard.
Motivation for work can vary. as some people work for material benefits. Some to "get by", some for the shear joy of working. There are "work alcoholics", but I think that is a dying race. A certain energy came from the Church's teaching on the worthiness of work in and of itself. We have the great Pope Leo XIII's encyclical on Work. Here is the
Vatican link. Here is a bit of this masterpiece.
To remedy these wrongs the socialists, working on the poor man's envy of the rich, are striving to do away with private property, and contend that individual possessions should become the common property of all, to be administered by the State or by municipal bodies. They hold that by thus transferring property from private individuals to the community, the present mischievous state of things will be set to rights, inasmuch as each citizen will then get his fair share of whatever there is to enjoy. But their contentions are so clearly powerless to end the controversy that were they carried into effect the working man himself would be among the first to suffer. They are, moreover, emphatically unjust, for they would rob the lawful possessor, distort the functions of the State, and create utter confusion in the community.
5. It is surely undeniable that, when a man engages in remunerative labor, the impelling reason and motive of his work is to obtain property, and thereafter to hold it as his very own. If one man hires out to another his strength or skill, he does so for the purpose of receiving in return what is necessary for the satisfaction of his needs; he therefore expressly intends to acquire a right full and real, not only to the remuneration, but also to the disposal of such remuneration, just as he pleases. Thus, if he lives sparingly, saves money, and, for greater security, invests his savings in land, the land, in such case, is only his wages under another form; and, consequently, a working man's little estate thus purchased should be as completely at his full disposal as are the wages he receives for his labor. But it is precisely in such power of disposal that ownership obtains, whether the property consist of land or chattels. Socialists, therefore, by endeavoring to transfer the possessions of individuals to the community at large, strike at the interests of every wage-earner, since they would deprive him of the liberty of disposing of his wages, and thereby of all hope and possibility of increasing his resources and of bettering his condition in life.
6. What is of far greater moment, however, is the fact that the remedy they propose is manifestly against justice. For, every man has by nature the right to possess property as his own. This is one of the chief points of distinction between man and the animal creation, for the brute has no power of self direction, but is governed by two main instincts, which keep his powers on the alert, impel him to develop them in a fitting manner, and stimulate and determine him to action without any power of choice. One of these instincts is self preservation, the other the propagation of the species. Both can attain their purpose by means of things which lie within range; beyond their verge the brute creation cannot go, for they are moved to action by their senses only, and in the special direction which these suggest. But with man it is wholly different. He possesses, on the one hand, the full perfection of the animal being, and hence enjoys at least as much as the rest of the animal kind, the fruition of things material. But animal nature, however perfect, is far from representing the human being in its completeness, and is in truth but humanity's humble handmaid, made to serve and to obey. It is the mind, or reason, which is the predominant element in us who are human creatures; it is this which renders a human being human, and distinguishes him essentially from the brute. And on this very account - that man alone among the animal creation is endowed with reason - it must be within his right to possess things not merely for temporary and momentary use, as other living things do, but to have and to hold them in stable and permanent possession; he must have not only things that perish in the use, but those also which, though they have been reduced into use, continue for further use in after time.
The envy of the poor must be addressed. In America and in Europe, there is a hatred of wealth, which is against the Catholic Faith. God has not created all men with the same talents, nor has He endowed all peoples with the same gifts to gain wealth. Tragedies, set-backs, even natural disasters, such as Katrina and floods in the Midwest, or tornadoes. can cause instant poverty. Ill health can cause poverty. But, the poor must never be incited to envy, which is happening all over the world. I have written on this before. That the poor accept their status is a crucial point in Catholic teaching. Did not Christ Himself state that, "For the poor you have always with you; but me you have not always." John 12:8
But, it suits POTUS and others in Europe to fan the flames of class warfare and keep using the language of Marx, so that even Catholics do not see that they have absorbed an evil class hatred. The Work Ethic, which many ascribe to the Protestant idea that if a person is saved, God blesses one in this life as a sign of Predestination. The key book on this is The Protestant Ethic and the Spirit of Capitalism by Max Weber, which I read in college and studied keenly. If you have not read this, take time to do so.
While not getting into detail here, I think that the problem of the lack of the work ethic has spread from a frankly, slothful attitude of procrastination and envy purposefully encouraged by the Politics of Envy and Rage. If Western Civilization is going to fall, and it is crumbling, the anarchists who want no government but all benefits, no morality but all the cookies and milk, will win the day.
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| Fulton J. Sheen |
Catholic parents must pass on the duties of chores, work, and the dignity of poverty to their children. That God Himself chose to be poor in this world is not spoken of enough. Here is one of my favorite passages in Scripture. But emptied himself, taking the form of a servant, being made in the likeness of men, and in habit found as a man. Philippians 2:7
That God emptied Himself of Glory to enter the world as a Man is hardly alluded to from the pulpit. How can we imagine Christ's sacrifice without knowing what a great poverty this was? Is not the Eucharist the Perfect Example of God's Poverty in the world?
Here is St. Francis of Assisi's prayer, which is perfect for Lent.
