Hard Work and America

De Crevecoeur’s ideas on American citizens strong work ethic is still evident in modern day society. In ‘Letter IV’ in Crevecoeur’s letter of a farmer he states “How Happy are we here, in having fortunately escaped the miseries which attended our fathers! How thankful ought we to be, that they reared us in land, where sobriety and industry never fail to meet with the most ample reward” here Crevecoeur conveys the message of success in America and anyone can achieve it if they work hard and don’t indulge themselves. The wording of “never fail” offers with a guarantee that we won’t fail due to an individual’s hard work.

Crevecoeur also positively comments on America as a place to live and work with great pride. “Is he a labourer, sober and industrious? he need not go many miles, nor receive many informations before he will be hired, well fed at the table of his employer, and paid four or five times more than he can get in Europe” here once again he mentions the ideas of sobriety and working hard to attain a job. Crevecoeur also says how much easier it would be to get a job in American and that you will have access to land, and it you will make more money than you would get if you worked in another European country. This statement of earning more in America can be seen in today’s society “Americans are a lot better off economically than the Europeans or Japanese,” economist Robert J. Shapiro observes in his book Futurecast. http://www.america.gov/st/business-english/2008/July/20080703151840berehellek0.7706415.html The same ideas of achieving more for your hard is shown in the statement that “Americans are a lot better off economically” thus agree with Crevecoeur’s ideas.

Crevecoeur points out the prosperity of American soil “I know of no soil in this country more rich or more fertile” this could represent not only the actual soil in which crops are grown, but the ideas that new enterprises can develop and America is the land of opportunity to grow and better yourself. “Thus through this fruitful hive constantly sends out swarms as industrious as themselves” here re-enforcing the idea of the land being important to creating jobs, which thus through working hard creates “industrious” citizens. Many of these ideas of hard work are shown in modern day America; “Americans feel enormous pressure to work so they won’t be seen as slackers,” de Graaf told America.gov. These ideas of hard work and achieving something for your self has been passed down through generations of Americans instilling a sense of strong work ethic amongst many, so by a failure to exert themselves fully is to name them “slackers”.

Despite many positive views on hard work, and Crevecoeur creating a positive light on hard work, he does however mention, “there are not at Nantucket so many wealthy people as one would imagine, after having considered their great successes, their industry, and their knowledge. Many die poor through hardly able to reproach fortune with a frown” here showing that not everyone will succeed, despite the great resources. This idea is also shown in many statistics as the current level of unemployment in America stands at “9.1 percent” http://www.bls.gov/news.release/empsit.nr0.htm This showing that although America may be perceived to have more opportunities and prospects many fail to attain jobs