Workaholism, Capitalism and Greed, Essay Example

Introduction and Background

My father has just retired,  after working for 2 years past his retirement age. Now my Father  is working again, at the same company,  as a part-time consultant;  while considering other full-time job offers from other companies. My mother changed jobs twice last year owing to  work pressure caused by too much travelling. She usually leaves for work at 8am  and it is not unusual  for her to come back at 9 or 11 pm . She constantly complains about the stress and had considered resigning but it has never happened.

Workaholism is fast becoming a culture of the world, and not just an American phenomenon.  In his essay ‘Against Work,’ Christopher Clausen expresses his concern about America’s workaholism culture. Clausen explains the reason people work and suggests that people work for the wrong and useless reasons. He suggests that although people claim to “want to work with people”, if they “suddenly didn’t need the money or respect, they would quickly turn to playing games instead, or travelling the world, or finding innovative ways to cope’ (673). Some people work because they want to meet people and not feel lonely. Why endure so much work stress just to meet people? There are actually better ways to prevent loneliness, such as “playing games” and “travelling the world” with other people, but people have no choice to choose the option of working because they need the money (673). People work because they need to earn money to make a living, to satisfy their wants and to take care of the welfare of their family. Workaholism arises when people work too hard to earn money.,

Human lives depend on money; the reason why every household needs someone to work to survive. My parents already have more than enough money to live to their old age; however, they still work hard because they need the money to support the cost of education for myself  and my brother. In addition they have to make provisions for donations  to charity and religious organizations, to pay for my cousins’ education,  in and to pay for their siblings’ future medical cost whenever needed. From my own perspective, the reason I worked so hard in high school and now attend a prestigious business school is because I want to get a good career and be financially successful. My future ambition is  to one day afford a big house, to own a sports car and to let my parents live a comfortable life. My parents and I are working so hard because we want to guarantee a happy life not just for ourselves but also for our loved ones.. How does money relate to a happy life?

Money in a materialistic society

Money can buy a lot of things including liberty, happiness, satisfaction and social status. There is a reason why James Russell Lowell, a poet in the 19^th century who is very active in the abolishment of slavery, claims that “wealth may be an excellent thing, for it means power, and it means leisure, it means liberty.” Wealth gives you liberty. When referring to Lowell’s quote, a user from Yahoo! Answers writes that “if you had money, I’ll bet you(slave) could buy your freedom or run away to the North and just have the right to live as a free man…or woman…’ Wealth also gives you leisure. Consider the difference between a rich person and a poor person. The rich person can enjoy more and better food than the poor person, enjoy the convenience of a washing machine, travel around the world and drive around conveniently in a car. The most extreme case of the misery experienced by poor people is the homeless people who have to suffer the below freezing temperature living in boxes.

Steve Maich suggests in his article ‘Money Really Can Buy Happiness’ in Maclean’s magazine that “happiness comes from devoting less chores and burdens, and replacing them with more meaningful and rewarding pursuits-family, friends, exercise, travel and other “restorative activities.” Clausen writes that “though when asked whether we would prefer more leisure to greater wealth, most of us opt for leisure” (672). People naturally prefer leisure over work but they have no choice but to work hard because if they don’t earn money from working, they wouldn’t be able to pay for leisure.

Like the Chinese proverb “it’s easy to turn from poor to rich, but hard to turn from rich to poor,” people would find it difficult to lower their salary and afford less. That is why they struggle in their work in order to maintain their level of wealth or increase it. The Stickiness Factor by Gladwell says that “there are specific ways of making a contagious message memorable” (713). Workaholism and the pursuit of wealth is this contagious message which capitalism promotes. In a capitalistic system, success is viewed as the ability to afford more things. So, people feel the pressure to earn more money. Once people become wealthy, the more affluent lifestyle will stick with them and become more  difficult to let go. Bret Nelson writes in his article ‘Why Do the Rich Keep Working?’ that the “accumulation of rich is equated with…personal security and one’s self-esteem.” Wealth is associated with authority, fame and respect and the wealthy people will continue to work hard to maintain their wealth because they want to keep these privileges.

Workaholism in modern society

Workaholism is an epidemic that is spreading. Today  workaholism is not only experienced by people with little money, but also experienced by wealthy people. Previously when capitalism was not so widespread, ‘workaholism’ didn’t exist. The term was only coined in the early 70’s by Wayne E Oates. At that time, ‘workaholism’ was only applied to males, now  it equally applies to females. In today’s  capitalistic system, workaholism spreads because the pursuit of wealth encourages people to compare their wealth with others. Gene Koretz says in his article ‘Why Americans work so hard’ that “greater pay disparity creates incentives for employees to work harder.” People with little money aspire to become like wealthy people. In his essay ‘The Tipping Point,’ Malcolm Gladwell explains in the Law of the Few that an epidemic happens when a small group of people “found out about the trend, and through social connections and energy and enthusiasm and personality” influences other people to follow the trend (712). In the case of capitalism, this small group of people can be referred to as the wealthy people. They are the drivers of workaholism because people admire their lifestyle, their class, their properties and their exclusiveness and want to emulate them. In order to do so, people will choose to work more so they can earn more money. As this  spreads the  more people are inspired to work towards a more affluent lifestyle

Workaholism also spreads because of the competition to gain wealth. According to Thorstein Veblen’s Theory of Class, wealthy people would also not stop accumulating wealth because they consume goods as “…evidence of wealth, it becomes honorific…” (679). For these wealthy people, “failure to consume in due quantity and quality becomes a mark of inferiority and demerit” (679). As more people get wealthier, a competition to show off arises. The ability to afford more represents the success of a person relative to other people. Steve Maich comments that “merely keeping up with the Joneses doesn’t cut it. If you want to be happy, you need to see that little glint of envy in Mr. Jones eye as you pull into your driveway a new Mercedes convertible.” This competition to become richer causes people to work so hard. Workaholism is an effect of capitalism. Capitalism creates the pressure for people to increase their wealth. Capitalism supports greed and Andrew Greeley suggests in his article “America’s Disease is Greed” that greed “is responsible for the endless stress and ruthless competition of the workplace.”

The impact on people

It’s true that some people work for motives other than money. Workaholism spreads and affect everyone like an epidemic. Clausen claims that some people find work as “a relief from loneliness,” as a passion or as “moral vanity” (673-5) and sees his own work as ‘one of the more privileged assignments in life’ and that it is fun and pleasant. Yet he still complains about the stress, the working hours and doing the same thing for forty years. Even if these people work out of their own interests in their job, it’s not rational for them to work so hard at the expense of their own leisure time. I believe this is caused by the conformity towards the existing work culture. This culture has become a tradition where people “prove one’s worth by long hours” (672). It is also a “pseudo-religion” that people are practicing because everyone else is (676). Clausen describes that “the self-respect that comes from being financially self-supporting, as well as capable of some useful accomplishment for oneself or others, is a worthy goal for anyone” (675). The longer we work or the more successful we are in our work, the more society will respect us for our achievements.

In this world we are living in, it is very common for people to work so hard for their children’s education so they get a good career. It is like a cycle because their children would in turn work hard for their grandchildren’s education. They don’t have a choice in this capitalistic world because without money, they wouldn’t be able to provide their children with a good education. In addition, , this concept of study well in school, do well in school, get a good career, earn a lot of money etc. is a very common mindset for students and parents around the world;  they believe that the only way to become successful in a capitalistic world is to work hard and earn a lot of money. The capitalistic system encourages the pursuit of wealth and impedes us to truly appreciate the true meaning of life.

Conclusion

I am motivated to work hard because I know that if I work harder, I can increase my ability to earn more money and afford more things. I am greedy for more money and my greediness is supported by the capitalistic system. In capitalism, “it’s the desire for money that overwhelms every other consideration” (Rainie). Capitalism erodes values. It supports greed. Although capitalism is a barrier to the welfare of society, I still prefer to live in it because of my desire for wealth. In ‘Capital,’ Karl Marx argues that bosses make profit by offering people wages lower than their labor value and the excess of profit. This is a form of greed and is evident in the movie Capitalism: A Love Story by Michael Moore where he points out that the top 1% of American population is wealthier than the bottom 95% combined. Greed is the cause behind the obscene amount of compensation paid to CEO’s of large Corporation, the flawed health insurance system, and the fierce  competition in the workplace. Capitalism is what causes us to be materialistic and consume excessively. Greed is hard to control because it is human nature to desire more things. Greed, be it for wealth, fame or power, is the root of all evil. It is the cause of conflict in the family, crimes, corruption and wars. Workaholism exists because of people’s greed for wealth. Perhaps one of our greatest challenge in the 21^st century is to make sure that human greed would not cause humanity to lose all its values.

Clausen encourages us to live a meaningful life not governed by work. In his essay ‘Against Work,’ his ex-boss Olive, who valued “human contact” over bureaucratic procedures” exemplified this kind of life (674). Olive would spend her Friday afternoons having a chat with her colleagues over a cup of coffee and thought that the government “was too absurd to worry about” (674). It is not easy, however, for me to live the relaxed approach to work and life portrayed by Olive. Indeed I want to live a meaningful life that is not controlled by the pursuit of wealth. I value the welfare of society, I value my time spent with my friends and I value my time spent on my passions. I’m afraid that I would become a workaholic and forgo my values in the future. But I’m still waiting to be inspired that the importance of money does not overwhelm the values I believe in. Perhaps at some stage in life I will find that inspiration.

Works Cited

Clausen, Christopher. “Against Work” Occasions for Writing: Evidence, Idea, Essay. Ed. Robert Diyanni and Pat C. Hoy II. Boston: Thomson, 2008. 672-76. Print.