Work has been on mind my lately. Not the specifics of my own job, but rather the abstract concept of work. We here in the US of A take a very ambivalent stance towards it, and even in these polarized views (view 1: work is honorable, it gives us meaning and purpose, you can be remunerated generously for it, the greater work ethic you have the better, etc. and view 2: work is, well, laborious, work is dreaded, work gives us the Sunday blues, work is what we do for the weekend, etc.) there are subleties and nuances. The philosophy of work is complicated, to say the least.

I think class is the primary determinant of one’s attitude towards work. High-paying, white collar jobs where an employee is rewarded for the work of their mind, relationships, cognitive abilities and personality: this is a very different work experience than a minimum wage food service job, where those aspects matter little so long as you get the physical job done.

Sources

• https://www.jstor.org/stable/pdf/20515765.pdf?seq=1#page_scan_tab_contents