Satisfaction In Wendell Berry's Home Of The Free

The first reading was from Eric Foner’s book, Free Soil, Free Labor, Free Men, the reading was from chapter one entitled “Free Labor: The Republicans and Northern Society”. The chapter centered on the Republican belief of free labor. They advocated for capitalism and believed people should always try to better themselves, never settle for a wage-earning job. They advocated for the dignity of labor. “The dignity of labor was a constant theme of antebellum northern culture and politics” (Foner, 11). The thesis was that free labor led to a better society, throughout the article, he explains why this is true and why the Southern way of life, and Democrats are wrong. Overall, the article was inspirational in its subject. It was all about trying

As the future approaches, automation and technology are quickly evolving and diminishing the amount of jobs available for Americans. American work-life has evolved drastically over the years. Certain jobs are being replaced by drones and robots, leaving many Americans unemployed. It has caused a slight shift in how we work. However, the continuation of work is still alive. In the article “A World Without Work,” (2015) the author Derek Thompson expresses how people are losing their jobs. Nevertheless, they’re using their hobbies and talents to generate money. Someone might sell their poetry and written work when they have lost their job generating income while also fostering creativity. President Nixon’s “Address to The Nation on Labor

“..the more they want to earn the more they must sacrifice their time and perform slave labour in which their freedom is totally alienated in the service of avarice...” (Bottomre; 1963, pg 71)

American culture is known around the world for many things, but two of the most influential values in my life have been developing a strong work ethic along with the competitive spirit that can be found in virtually every aspect of American life. Whether it is creating a quality product or just completing a hard day’s work, as Americans we are taught that we have accomplished something to feel good about if we have given maximum effort. This belief was largely in contrast to previous cultures who had regarded hard work as a curse (Hill, 1996). In American culture, the desire to pursue your dreams meant that you also had the ability to attain them if you were willing to make the necessary sacrifices. That motivation compelled people to work

The prospect of labor to earn money is a blessing for many people in the world. In the essay, “Work Is a Blessing” by Russel Honoré, the author makes a point that this prospect is vital for survival. Honoré starts his essay with a story from his past: “We grew cotton, sugar cane, corn, hogs, chickens and had a large garden, but it didn't bring in much cash. So when I was 12, I got a part-time job on a dairy farm down the road, helping to milk cows” (79). Readers can immediately infer that even if Honoré hated the job, it allowed him to help his family.

The novel, “The Working Poor” by David K. Shipler gives us an inside look into the lives of the lower class and he explores exactly what it means to do hard, exhausting but honest work in America. The working poor are working people whose incomes fall below the poverty line. While poverty is often associated with joblessness, a significant proportion of the poor are actually employed. Shipler teaches us that just because you have finally become employed does not mean that most or all of your worries are over, often times they are increased. Largely because they are earning such low wages, the working poor face numerous obstacles that make it difficult for many of them to find and keep a job, save up money, and maintain a sense of self-worth. Shipler did an amazing job bringing light to the “forgotten America”.

The Course of human events has once again arrived at a time when consideration must be given by the people to dissolving the political bonds connecting them with another, and to again assume among the powers of the earth, the separate and equal station to which the Natural Laws entitle them, a decent respect to the opinions of mankind requires that the people should declare the causes which impel them to the separation.

Transitioning from slavery to free-labor created new issues to arise between African Americans and white Southerners. It was believed that if no longer slaves, African Americans still must work. Henry Adams, an African American observing planters, wrote that, “white men would drive colored women out in the fields to work…and would tell colored men that their wives and children could not live on their places unless they worked in the fields.”10 In the same line of thinking, M. C. Fulton requests that freedwomen be required to work, stating that it is impossible for one man to provide for his family while his wife is in “idleness,” without stealing.11 What Adams observed and what Fulton complained about shows two different reasons for pushing freedwomen to work, in a way that, presumably, was different than what was expected of white women. The free-labor system caused disputes in what qualified as “work.” White employers claimed that, “the labor of the employee belongs to him for the whole year, that he must labor for him six days during the week and do all kinds of work required of him wether directly connected with the crop.”12 Freedmen, however, claimed that they had “no other work to do but to cultivate and gather the crop.”13 White employers did not seem to view African American laborers as employees, rather they saw them as slaves with contracts, able to submit complaints about their employment

Another point to discuss is that you talked about how modern improvements have little value and how we should concentrate more on our spirituality , “If we do not get sleepers . . . but go to tinkering upon our lives to improve them, who will build railroads?” (Thoreau 234). While I agree that taking care of one’s soul takes precedent over the convenience of others, perhaps the aforementioned convenience is also valuable. In this case, I would argue that a mundane task, such as laying the tracks, may be one way for people to demonstrate their prowess or express their individuality. You stated, “The nation [Our life is like a German Confederacy] itself, with all its so-called internal improvements, which, by the way, are all external and superficial . . . and the only cure for it, as for them, is in a rigid economy, a stern and more than Spartan simplicity of life and elevation of purpose” (Thoreau 234). Perhaps you passed too shortly before the rise of existentialism, but that movement serves as a basis for my criticisms. I may not yet know what purpose lies in the noblest of careers. However, regardless of a legitimate significance of a craft or hobby, people can find in

When people think about of America society they thought are prosperity, equality and freedom. However, today in American society many people who are less privileged in different areas of their lives face discrimination by others. The segregation that people experience involves violence, inequality in their jobs and even in the neighborhoods. George Saunders in his article, “Exhortation”, argues the sadness that many people face in their jobs because they feel like slaves because the salary and condition of job makes them to realize that in order to get their check; they need to give their lives on the job; in his article, “Sea Oak”, he argues how Bernie sees that her lives is nothing because in order to be a part of the American system the people need to be happy being exploited. Finally in “Offloading for Mrs. Schwartz”, he argues how the happy zone helps makes people face their emotions in front of the stress they experience’s every day in their jobs and how people are manipulate by their emotions in order to kept their values away in order to protect their jobs. George Sanders effectively argues the idea of exploitation in people lives. He states that the America ideals that people believe are not true because in order to succeed in the society they give their lives to the system.

Many people in today’s society find themselves guilty of believing the common misconception that money can buy happiness. They go to school to become a doctor, lawyer, or other high paying job, with money and social status as their only incentives. Many will find that they have fallen into a trap, when they start earning their large salary, but still are not happy. While there were many messages present throughout Studs Terkels Working: a graphic adaptation, the most important reoccurring message seemed to be that having pride and dignity as well as working at a job that fulfills one’s life passion or is simply enjoyable are more important qualities than earning a large salary and having a high rank on the social ladder. The interaction of

Many people today find themselves in “dead-end” jobs, or they feel like work is purposeless and frustrating. At the same time, some people figured out that work is a blessing to them. People who suffer their lives in a slavery for many years in another country, think that work is a curse because they were ruled by people. They work because they are forced by other people. Work is a blessing for most people, but for some people work is a curse because of the lack of opportunity. Work is a blessing for those who understand it. To understand that work is a blessing was one of true understanding the purpose of life. It is important because not knowing the purpose of life brought people depressed. As Honore said “I'm retired from the Army, but

I would love the opportunity to participate in the seminar, “The Economy and The Family”. I am a Politics, Philosophy, and Economics (PPE) major at The King’s College. The relationship between the economy and family structure is an interesting topic that combines economics and philosophy. In a recent lecture by Dr. David Talcott, “The Household Economy of Wendell Berry and Allan Carlson”, the topic of the relationship between the family structure and the economy was discussed. I have always been fascinated with the economy and how markets work. My senior year in high school, I was mentored by Professor Subrick at James Madison University for my research project. I looked into how an increase in low-skilled immigrants into metropolitan areas

"Hence," Marx wrote, "the worker feels himself only when he is not working; when he is working, he does not feel himself. He is at home when he is not working, and not at home when he is working. His labor is, therefore, not voluntary but forced, it is forced labor.

Work takes on greater importance in a society where people believe that they can master the material world and shape their own destinies, and less where they believe that they can not. An Ancient Greek philosopher said that the only stability in the world was within one's mind or soul, where ideas were secure from the unending changes that took place in the material world. In Ancient Greece, philosophers believed that a person's thoughts and ideas were more important than that person's work and that work in the material world lacked permanence. For the ancient Greeks, the status of particular occupations depended on the degree of freedom a person had, the perceived moral integrity of the occupation, and the amount of mental and physical work it required. Today we tend to feel that working in an office is better than working in a coal mine, regardless of which worker makes more money. Our language suggests that it is a privilege to work sitting down.