Transcript CORE AE MYTH Protestant Work Ethic Myth 2010 File

American Experience
Protestant Work Ethic Myth
• Protestant Work Ethic Myth
– What is the “Protestant Work Ethic?”
• Originally Based On A Calvinist Outlook, The “Protestant
Work Ethic” Was A View That Constant Labor And A
Willingness To Work Was A Sign Of Personal Salvation.
• It Was Seen As A Way To Help Society And The
Individual.
• “Work Ethic” Is A Set Of Values Based On Moral Virtues
Of Hard Work And Diligence And An Overall Belief In It’s
(Work’s) Ability To Enhance Character.
– Analytical Approach
• Theory: Hard Work Has Its Rewards In America
• Independent Variable: Hard Work
• Dependent Variable: Rewards (Success)
American Experience
Protestant Work Ethic Myth
• Life in the Iron Mills Reading Questions
– What Is “The Terrible Question” Davis
Asks Her Readers? How Is It Answered?
– Where Are The Workers From? What
Literary Devices Are Used To Describe
Their Work Setting?
– Why Is Hugh Unpopular With Coworkers?
– What Does The Debate Among The Four
Visitors Reveal About The Attitudes Of
Their Class?
– Why Do Hugh (And Deb) Get In Trouble?
Rebecca
Harding Davis
(1831-1910)
American Experience
Protestant Work Ethic Myth
• Barbara Ehrenreich: “Serving In Florida”
– What Scientific Theory/Mathematical
Proposition Was Ehrenreich Testing?
– Why Did She Fail?
– How Is Ehrenreich’s “Life”
Similar To That Of The
Workers In “Life In The
Iron Mills?”
– How Is The Economic
System Ehrenreich Faces
Similar To That In Life In
The Iron Mills?
http://www
.nickeland
dimed.net/
Millions of Americans work full-time,
year-round for poverty level wages. In
1998, journalist Barbara Ehrenreich
decided to join them. The result,
Nickel and Dimed, reveals low-wage
America in all its tenacity, anxiety,
and surprising generosity -- a land of
Big Boxes, fast food, and a thousand
desperate strategems for survival.
American Experience
Protestant Work Ethic Myth
• Barbara Ehrenreich: “Bait And Switch”
– What Are The Similarities/Differences Between
“Bait And Switch” And “Nickled And Dimed?”
– What Are The
Similarities &
Differences
Between The
Author Of
“Bait And
Switch” & The
Characters in
Other
Readings
/Films
MJ: Why do you think that is? What is it about today’s economy that
limits the opportunities available to younger generations?
BE: Well, the whole nature of corporate employment has changed
very dramatically in the last 10 to 15 years. Employers have gone
away from the idea that an employee is a long-term asset to the
company, someone to be nurtured and developed, to a new notion
that they are disposable. A research group found that 56 percent of
major companies surveyed in the late ‘80s agreed that “employees
who are loyal to the company and further its business goals deserve
an assurance of continued employment.” A decade later only 6
percent agreed. It was in the ‘90s that companies started weeding
people out as a form of cost reduction. That’s why the person who
achieves more may be the most vulnerable to a layoff because he or
she is now making enough money to look like a tempting target for
cost cutters. One person recently told me about a boss saying to one
of his employees, “You don’t want a raise; it’s like painting a target
on your back.”
http://www.motherjones.com/news/qa/2005/09/barbara_ehrenreich.html
American Experience
Protestant Work Ethic Myth
• Protestant Work Ethic Analytical Questions
– Taking Ehrenreich’s Scientific Theory and
Mathematical Proposition, Apply It To One Of The
Other Readings.
– Write Out What The Scientific
Theory/Mathematical Proposition Is.
– How Would You Know Whether Or Not Capitalism
Is A Winning Or Losing Proposition For The
Majority Of Americans? Provide A Testable
Hypothesis That Would Enable You To Determine
The Answer For Yourself.
American Experience
Protestant Work Ethic Myth
• You Be The Mythbuster
– Myth: Protestant Countries Are More Productive
Than Other Countries.
• Theory: Certain Countries Are More Productive Than
Other Countries Because Of Their Religious-Based
Business Ethics.
– Independent Variables: Religion Of Countries
» Protestant, Islamic, Roman Catholic, Orthodox
– Dependent Variable: Economic Success
• Hypotheses Tests
–
–
–
–
GDP
Employment
Worker Productivity
Other Factors
Pick Your Own Variable
http://msp192.photobucket.com/albums/z278/Franks8/Mythbusters.jpg
American Experience
Protestant Work Ethic Myth
Red: Protestant
Blue: Catholic
Yellow-Orange: Orthodox
World Religion Map
Green: Islam
Pink: Hindu
Orange: Buddhist
http://www.emsc.nysed.gov
American Experience
Protestant Work Ethic Myth
O
C P C C A C PP/C P CP A PP C C C CC PO C C C C AChr M C C
http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/c/c5/OECD_Productivity_levels_2007.svg