“We live in a paradoxical culture that both celebrates work and continually strives to eliminate it. While we treasure economic efficiency, we seek humanly interesting jobs that offer fulfillment and give meaning to our lives. Perhaps the demand for meaningful work grows because we see the supply shrinking.”
“We have gone beyond the work ethic, which endowed work with moral value, and now dangerously depend on our jobs to be the primary source of our identity, the mainspring of individual self-esteem and happiness.”
“Furthermore, work sometimes substitutes for the fulfillment we used to derive from family, friends, religion, and community. This substitution is risky because the economy is unpredictable and employers are sometimes feckless. Work can also ruin lives. When companies “downsize” they leave some with too much work and others with none. Both groups face a less certain future. Overwork and unemployment place enormous strains upon individuals and families.”
“Work determines our status and shapes our social interactions. Some people can hardly talk to a stranger without first knowing what he or she does for a living. ”
“A consequence of this loaded meaning of work is that we put our happiness in the hands of the market and our employers. Earning a decent living is not enough; we want something more.”
“We can endure the worst of jobs, if it is reasonable to hope that the job will get us where we want to go or at least feed us along the way.”