The Value of Hard Work
It’s amazing how much of our lives is spent dreading going to work, complaining about work, planning or counting down the days to retirement, and finding ways to get around going to work. Is the goal just to achieve enough funds to pay bills? If so, then why are we trying to live “without having to work”?
The value of a “work” ethic is something we don’t talk about much today. And the shutdowns have encouraged a mindset that furthers this misunderstanding. At the same time that the federal government is trying to get us used to their financial hand-outs instead of working for a living, we are losing a labor force that used to be the shining example to the world of our productive “consumer-driven” society.
In Michigan, over the past 2 years of government shutdown, we have lost over 23,000 businesses, and will suffer at least double that in population decline. Businesses close early these days because they can’t find enough workers to sustain normal business hours. Do you find yourself wondering how folks can suddenly survive without working? The rest of us have to pay bills just the same as before the shutdown.
If we go back to the beginning of humanity, work existed before The Fall. It actually was a gift, a blessing. It was an opportunity to see how God designed each person, how His genius or creativity could be expressed through one’s own hands, mind, and body. There is dignity in expressing one’s self through what one could produce, serve, create, change, repair, or improve. There is a sense of accomplishment and a tremendous value in connecting others. We were made to be interdependent with each other to produce and contribute to the world around us.
We have overlooked this in the past years, as the Marxist idea of “all equal” has been promoted to our youth, for 2 generations now. We have crushed their ambition and allowed our children to be brought up in an attitude that says that no matter the degree of hard work, genius contribution, or sacrifice, all should receive the same paycheck, housing, education, and trophies. At the same time, demoralizing situations, stressful workloads, and the lack of purpose-driven lives have overtaken the passion to enjoy the journey of working. Instead, this generation is fueled by an entertainment driven life not knowing that the end result is actually socialism, squashing independence, autonomy, and the incentive to thrive.
Let’s restore the work ethic in our culture. Let’s appreciate the locally grown or made product, the hands that worked to bring it to market, and the fact that we get to do work and share our talents with each other. Let’s appreciate each other again and value our differences, trying not to be the same as everyone else. Let us value the work of our hands. After all, our Founding Fathers wrote in the Declaration of Independence that we are endowed by our Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty, and the Pursuit of Happiness. Let’s enjoy the pursuit as well as life itself. Let’s ensure we have the liberties we need to fulfill our dreams for ourselves and our families’ future.