Work And Hypocrisy

Work is an activity designed to accomplish something that is needed and valued for its contribution to civilised life. It is traditional. Refusing to work is breaking with tradition. There is a doctrine and a model behind it. There is usually a pattern of work and rest. A distinction is usually made between work and play. Work is valued and esteemed by reason of what it accomplishes, while play is activity or effort purely for satisfaction. While work is mostly applied to physical or manual labour it can easily be extended to include all forms of intellectual and psychological efforts as well, there is no reason why not. Physical work is often not held in very high esteem compared with more liberal pursuits such as soldiery and politics. Erroneous notions of contemplative life also see external action in a different light. Work is both an obligation and a necessity. It is necessary for sustenance and to avoid evil and vice. Work also makes almsgiving possible. It is not a punishment for sin.

Good work should be esteemed and valued for what it is and what it contributes to life but bad work should be condemned. Hypocrisy is a simulation, a falsehood, someone wishing to seem virtuous for self glorification. It is a dichotomy of saying and doing. It shows contempt for virtue, discourages people from virtue and from working for it. Capitalism has a particular attitude towards work. It is concerned with maximising personal gain for its own sake at the expense of others. It entailed the expansion of the world of work to include new forms of work developed by the application of the sciences that came to drive work in order to maximise profits. Science served as a guide to work sometimes for the better at other times not. It created a whole new culture of working life, a new world of work. It helped create the kind of society we have today. Work is rightly considered as part of social and economic life. It is a guide to right living. It is properly rewarded with a just wage.