Editing Work ethic (section)

==Capitalist view==
{{See also|Protestant work ethic}}
The Puritans who settled in New England around the 17th and 18th centuries believed that working hard at one's call was a sign that one would be saved. They were followed by Calvinists who believed in [[predestination]] and had faith that they were chosen or had the call from God to fulfill their duty in the world. To both of them, accumulation of wealth was an indicator of working to their fullest capacity as a response to the call and assurance for receiving [[salvation]]. These ideologies are the foundations of the Protestant work ethic.

[[Max Weber]] quotes the ethical writings of [[Benjamin Franklin]]:

<blockquote>
Remember, that time is money. He that can earn ten shillings a day by his labor, and goes abroad, or sits idle, one half of that day, though he spends but sixpence during his diversion or idleness, ought not to reckon ''that'' the only expense; he has really spent, or rather thrown away, five shillings besides.

Remember, that money is the prolific, generating nature. Money can beget money, and its offspring can beget more, and so on. Five shillings turned is six, turned again is seven and threepence, and so on, till it becomes a hundred pounds. The more there is of it, the more it produces every turning, so that the profits rise quicker and quicker. He that kills a breeding sow, destroys all her offspring to the thousandth generation. He that murders a crown, destroys all that it might have produced, even scores of pounds.<ref>[[Benjamin Franklin]], ''Advice to a Young Tradesman, Written by an Old One'' (1748), Italics in the original</ref>
</blockquote>

Franklin believes that valuing time and money is linked to seeing hard work and thriftiness as crucial qualities. He thinks that money, when used wisely, can multiply and create more wealth. This idea mirrors the Protestant ethic's focus on productive labor and reinvesting profits for progress. Franklin also states that reading the Bible showed him the importance of virtue. This also reflects the Christian search for understanding the ethic of living and the struggle to make a living.<ref name=":1">Weber, Max ''The Protestant Ethic and "The Spirit of Capitalism" (Penguin Books, 2002) translated by Peter Baehr and Gordon C. Wells, pp.9-12''</ref>

Max Weber's definition of work ethic was that a man should work well in his gainful occupation, not merely because he had to but because he wanted to; it was a sign of his virtue and a source of personal satisfaction.<ref name=":1" />

The notion of work ethic continued to grow in the work values of the Western world. In 1903, [[Theodore Roosevelt]] expressed, "Far and away the best prize that life offers is the chance to work hard at work worth doing."<ref>{{Cite book |last=Davidson |first=Donald J. |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=35xjDwAAQBAJ&pg=PT80 |title=The Wisdom of Theodore Roosevelt |date=2018-07-31 |publisher=Citadel Press |isbn=978-0-8065-4017-7 |pages=80 |language=en}}</ref>

[[Richard Thurnwald]], in his work "Economies in Primitive Communities," emphasized that people engage in work actively because humans have a natural inclination towards staying active and doing things.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Thurnwald |first=Richard |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=oHn5zgEACAAJ |title=Economics in Primitive Communities |publisher=Humphrey Milford |year=1932 |pages=209 |language=en}}</ref>

In the 1940s, work ethic was considered very important and nonconformist ideals were dealt autocratically. It is recorded that, at the Ford Company, a worker named John Gallo was dismissed for, "...laughing with the other fellows, and slowing down the assembly line...".<ref>{{cite book |author=Christopher Robert |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=c3y_DQAAQBAJ&pg=PT149 |title=The Psychology of Humor at Work: A Psychological Perspective |date=19 December 2016 |publisher=[[Taylor & Francis]] |isbn=978-1-317-37077-2 |pages=149}}</ref>

[[Steven Malanga]] refers to "what was once understood as the work ethic—not just hard work but also a set of accompanying [[virtue]]s, whose crucial role in the development and sustaining of [[free markets]] too few now recall".<ref>{{cite web |title=Whatever Happened to the Work Ethic? by Steven Malanga, City Journal Summer 2009 |url=http://www.city-journal.org/2009/19_3_work-ethic.html}}</ref>

Experimental studies have shown that people with fair work ethic are able to tolerate tedious jobs with equitable monetary rewards and benefits, are highly critical, and have a tendency for [[workaholism]] and a negative relation with leisure activity concepts. They valued meritocracy and egalitarianism.<ref>Mirels and Garrett (1971). Protestant Work Ethic. Journal of Consulting and Clinical Psychology, 36, 40–44.</ref>

Even if the death of work were to happen due to technological advancement that eliminates the need for people to work, the desire to stay actively involved in some form of activity is not bound to any particular phasing out of its existence.<ref name=":0" />