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May 25, 2012
Mark Clayton: Is Hillary's State Dept. hacking Al Qaeda? Not quite
Erika Bolstad: Temple cancels Wasserman Schultz speech
The Kosher Gourmet by Ethel G. Hofman: The former president of the International Association of Culinary Professionals, whose members included the likes of Julia Child, is back with contemporary Shavous cuisine: Ruby Fruit Soup, Sweet Noodle Kugel with Cheese, Key Lime Curd, Calsone Casserole Frittata with Wild Mushrooms, Sun-dried tomatoes and Olives, Baked Tilapia with Pepper Cheese Cream and Brown Sugar Shortbread
May 24, 2012
Jeff Jacoby: The peace process battered Israel's reputation
Michael Muskal: 'Pro-choice' position hits record low, according to poll
Chris Farrell: Are We in a Tech Bubble?
The Kosher Gourmet by Penelope Wall: PHILLY CHEESE STEAKS --- hold the steak!
May 23, 2012
Tony Pugh: More private colleges offering tuition discounts
Mary Beth Franklin: How to Choose the Right Annuity for You
Tina Susman: The wig wasn't enough: Man gets 13 years for posing as his dead mom
The Kosher Gourmet by Emma Christensen:A simple way to do fish right
May 22, 2012
Warren Richey: Can US group challenge overseas surveillance act? Supreme Court to decide
Thomas M. Anderson: Walking Away From a Mortgage
The Kosher Gourmet by Megan Gordon: Enjoy a celebration of the most rich and layered flavors: Black bean, sweet potato and quinoa chili
May 21, 2012
Mark Clayton: Cybersecurity: How US utilities passed up chance to protect their networks
Howard LaFranchi: NATO summit: Who will foot the bill for long-term Afghanistan security?
Chris Farrell : Earn Dividends in Emerging Markets with This WisdomTree ETF
Stephen Whiteside, Ph.D. : Mayo Clinic Medical Edge: Social anxiety disorder --- or just shy?
Guy Jackson : Victim's father regrets death of Lockerbie bomber
The Kosher Gourmet by Mario Batali: Famed chef's veal shoulder farsumagru: A festive meat course for late spring
May 18, 2012
Rabbi Berel Wein: Striving: The People of the Book's Book for (All of) the People
Steven Goldberg: 5 Great Stock Picks and the Exchange-Traded Fund that Owns Them
Mary Pickett, M.D.: Ask the Harvard Experts: Don't be forced into gluten-free lifestyle based merely on a doctor's false-positive test
The Kosher Gourmet by Carolyn Malcoun: DIY healthy lunchbox treats: HOMEMADE FRUIT BARS for kids and brown-bagging adults alike
May 17, 2012
Warren Richey: Teacher fired for being unwed and pregnant can sue religious school, court rules
Josh Mitnick: Netanyahu's 'centrist' coalition is already proving it's anything but
Steven Goldberg: Earn Dividends in Emerging Markets with This WisdomTree ETF
Amina Khan: Research links coffee to lower death rates
The Kosher Gourmet by Faith Duran : Cheesy Potato Breakfast Casserole with Cheddar and Sun-Dried Tomatoes
May 16, 2012
Carmen Terzic, M.D., Ph.D. : Mayo Clinic Medical Edge: A variety of exercises can help improve balance
Melissa Healy: National strategy on Alzheimer's disease aims to halt it by 2025
The Kosher Gourmet by Joyce White : GOODNESS GRACIOUS: GREENS! 4 winning recipes that are no longer just for down-home folks (Includes expert tips & techniques)
May 15, 2012
Kristen Chick: Obama administration resumes arms sales to Bahrain despite serious unresolved human rights issues. Activists feel abandoned
Pat Mertz Esswein: Homes are now affordable again and mortgage rates are low. What you need to know before you buy
Kathy Kristof: Our Practical Investor Fights Inflation with These 6 Investments
Sue Hubbard, M.D.: The Kid's Doctor: Lactose intolerant young child? Check again
The Kosher Gourmet by Kathy Hunt: Spread a Little Excitement with EXOTIC CONDIMENTS (4 RECIPES)
May 14, 2012
Lisa Gerstner: How to Protect Your Identity, Finances If You Lose Your Phone
Harvard Health Letters: Heart disease and dementia
The Kosher Gourmet by Megan Gordon: MANGO COCONUT OAT MORNING MUFFINS are a bright but hearty delight
May 11, 2012
Jessica L. Anderson: Get the Best Deal on a Used Car
Jett Stone: Forget face-lifts and fake knees. Scientists have seen the fountain of youth --- and it's broccoli
The Kosher Gourmet by Chef Mario Batali: The famed chef's vegetable dish that tastes true to the season: FAVAS AND SUGAR SNAP PEAS WITH POTATOES AND TARRAGON
May 10, 2012
Sergei L. Loiko: Putin sends warning to U.S., NATO in Victory Day speech at Red Square
Mary Rourke: How being a 'mentch' got Vidal Sasoon his start and fighting in Israel's War of Independence provided him with confidence and a strong sense of his own identity
Jeff Bertolucci: Get Home Phone Service for Less Than $10 a Month
The Kosher Gourmet by Betty Rosbottom: Gleaming with its golden, crimson, and snowy white hues, this silken smooth and creamy STRAWBERRY ORANGE TRIFLE looks impressive, but is easy to prepare
May 9, 2012
Sharon Palmer, R.D. How you can reduce your risk -- or delay -- chronic diseases associated with aging
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Jewish World Review
Sept. 2, 2011
/ 3 Elul, 5771
Labor vs. Drudgery
By
Paul Greenberg
http://www.JewishWorldReview.com |
"If all the year were playing holidays,/ To sport would be as tedious as to work...." --Henry IV, First Part
Like most Americans during this three-day holiday, I come to praise labor, not actually do any of it. Has there ever been a people that sermonized more about the importance of the work ethic -- but was so enamored of labor-saving devices?
American efficiency, American organization, and therefore American prosperity has been an example around the world -- at least since Henry Ford, that half-genius, half-crank and all-American revolutionary, put the world on wheels. And sagely raised his workers' pay to unheard-of levels so they could buy the Model Ts they were putting together.
With the retirement of the fabled Steve Jobs at Apple, there has been a spate of articles over the wire recalling other great entrepreneurs of American history -- from John D. Rockefeller to Arkansas' own Sam Walton. A swath that would include such different types as Edison and Disney. Such figures, each distinctive, may have done more in their own idiosyncratic way to elevate the American standard of living and general comfort level than any politician, labor leader or intellectual.
The captains of industry and commerce who regularly pop up in American society have a way of revolutionizing the way we live without ever being recognized as the social reformers they are. It would come as surprise to learn that they thought of themselves in such terms while they were making their fortunes. (Well, maybe Andrew Carnegie did.) But the profit motive they understood very well. The social advances they made possible came as a byproduct of what they loved to do, what they were born to do. Theirs was a labor of love.
A few kinks have developed in the American image since those tycoons' time -- episodes like recurrent panics, the Great Depression and our own era's Great Recession. Not to mention regular lapses in that once vaunted made-in-USA craftsmanship.
The economist Joseph Schumpeter (1883-1950) spoke of the "creative destruction" that is a free economy, and don't we know it today, when so much of that economy is in flux. It takes faith, hope and charity to let it operate freely, and it remains to be seen whether the creative or the destructive aspect of capitalism will survive the suffocating embrace of ever bigger, ever more debt-burdened government.
Still, no other country's economic system seems to have responded so flexibly to the challenge, mystery and psychological thriller known as the "science" of economics. Maybe because of the simultaneous American admiration and distaste for work. It all depends on the kind of work -- creative labor or just drudgery.
Surely no other civilization -- if that's the right word for this American experiment, hurly-burly and adventure -- has labored so hard to make labor obsolete, or at least the kind of labor that demeans: the dull, rote, repetitive, unthinking kind that corrodes the dignity of the individual.
Whether it was the Shakers in their neat little colonies full of music and workmanship ('Tis a gift to be simple, 'Tis a gift to be free . . .) or Jefferson at Monticello, Americans long have been fascinated with labor-saving devices. Inventing and perfecting remains our favorite form of labor. Natural-born tinkerers, we seldom think of such work as work at all, it's so much fun.
Indeed, one of the most powerful arguments that can be made in this country against even the most entrenched of institutions -- whether slavery or the welfare state -- is that such a system will result in the creation of a permanent, dependent underclass.
In American society, independence is a good word, dependence a bad one. We are all for community, but flee the collective. We are happy to help others stand on their own, but resent freeloaders. We associate work with freedom and self-respect, not servitude and shame. Which is another reason slavery, the curse and bane of American history, could not last. Neither will any collective effort that denigrates the individual, not in this country.
The idea and reality called class exists in America, too, but we resist acknowledging it, which may explain our remarkable social mobility. For myths shape reality much more than the other way 'round. Our myth is called the American Dream, and it holds out the hope of equal opportunity, not egalitarian results. Maybe that's why, though ours is not a classless society, it is also not a class-bound one. May it never become one.
Paul Greenberg Archives
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