Debunking the Myth of Hard Work
Have you ever wondered why Americans are obsessed with the idea of hard work? And that if something is not working out, you just need to try harder? Perhaps unsurprisingly, this mentality has its roots in the Puritan culture of the Reformation, a culture that shaped the current culture of America. During the 16th and 17th centuries, the European Renaissance and the Reformation brought about a period of religious and political upheaval. Two leaders who were instrumental in the development of Western culture were Martin Luther and John Calvin.
Luther created Protestantism out of protest and discontentment with the Roman Catholic Church. Calvin, a French theologian, first introduced doctrines that redefined and formed a new attitude toward work. Calvinism taught that everyone must work—even the wealthy—because work was the will of God. When the Puritans colonized what is now Massachusetts, they brought with them this idea of work being a means to eternal salvation and that one’s work ethic equated to their innate value. Those who had this “calling” to show their special status through their life and work labored to give thanks to God. Coincidentally, they started earning lots of money. Modern capitalism was borne out of this centuries-old belief.
Americans today work hundreds of hours more per year than workers in other developed countries. Many Americans still use hard work and frugality to display virtue. Think about the co-worker who complains/brags about working 70 hours per week, the Boomer who tells the Millennial that if they stopped eating avocado toast, they could purchase a home or the billionaire who attributes his success to—what else?—hard work. All of these scenarios represent the lingering influence of the religious roots of modern American culture.
What’s wrong with hard work? Absolutely nothing. But in America, there is a pervasive myth that hard work will lead to success, which is just plain wrong. There is also a corresponding idea that failure is often the result of a moral shortcoming or is somehow deserved because someone just didn’t work hard enough. We judge people who rise to fame “for doing nothing.” (Side note: no one gets famous for doing nothing. They get famous for doing things you didn’t think of!)
Luck plays a far more significant role in life outcomes than successful people like to admit. When you suggest that luck played a role in their success, they tend to get very defensive. There is an enormous amount of good fortune that plays in someone’s success. Yet, we are still obsessed with the idea of hard work. Work hard, play hard. Go big or go home. Work hard, dream big. Then there is the whole idea of what hard work is. Is working 80 hours a week as an associate at a law firm hard work? Is it harder than working 10 hours per day on a landscaping crew? Both of these jobs require hard work, just in different forms.
The bottom line
The myth of hard work leads to the belief that good fortune is earned and failure is punishment. If you don’t succeed, it’s because you’re deficient in some way. The life experiences of those around us make it very clear that many people have bad outcomes in life purely due to factors beyond their control. The hard work myth also furthers the pernicious idea that work can be a perfect meritocracy, which is self-deluding. Measures of merit are difficult to disentangle from economic advantage. So yes, it is entirely possible, and not uncommon, to work hard and not reap the rewards you expect. This is not a moral failing. It is not a punishment. More often than not, it’s entirely out of your control.