The American Obsession With Careers

IT'S a sign of dubious progress that while Americans once worried whether they would have jobs, many of them now worry whether their jobs have them.

Labor Day weekend is a chance to reflect on the role of work in American society.

For previous generations of Americans, a job was just something you did for 10-12 hours a day, six days a week. You dug coal, poured steel, hauled freight or planted crops. Few people worried about the quality of their jobs; they just did them and took their money home, where their real lives were centered.

But that's not enough for most middle-class, college-educated Americans today. Rather than a job, many Americans have careers. Unlike a job, a career should not simply bring a paycheck. It also must have meaning and purpose. It must be personally fulfilling.

The attitude toward career is a major change in how Americans perceive themselves. Once people based their identity largely on their family, nationality, ethnic background, religion or where they lived. Today, many middle-class Americans define themselves mainly by occupation - lawyer, doctor, accountant.

As important as income are the psychic rewards a career provides. A career is integral to many people's sense of self-worth. Egos are inflated or deflated by a change in career status. No wonder, along with sex and diet, career counseling dominates the self-help section of the typical bookstore.

Indeed, the energy and time invested in a career can virtually shut out other aspects of life. In her book on workaholism, "Working Ourselves to Death," Diane Fassel quotes management experts Tom Peters and Nancy Austin that, "The cost of excellence is the giving up of family weekends, Little League games, birthday dinners, evenings, weekends, lunch hours, gardening, reading, movies and most other pastimes. We have a number of friends whose marriages or partnerships crumbled under the weight of their devotion to a (career) dream. We are frequently asked if it is possible to `have it all' - a fully satisfying personal life and a fully satisfying hard working one. Our answer is no."

Almost 100 years ago, philosopher William James noticed that the obsession with career was a special American trait. He blamed the desire for material wealth and corporate power for a loss of some of the nobler aspects of life, such as a search for virtue, thrift and philosophical reflection.

"The moral flabbiness born of the exclusive worship of the bitch-goddess SUCCESS. That - with the squalid cash interpretation put on the word success - is our national disease," James said.

A similar moral concern was expressed in the 1950s by social commentator Lewis Mumford, who looked askance at the apparently insatiable appetite Americans had for material wealth and the impact that consumption had on traditional values. According to Mumford, in modern consumer society all but one of the "seven deadly sins, sloth, was transformed into a positive virtue. Greed, avarice, envy, gluttony, luxury, and pride were the driving forces of the new economy."

The question America has never answered is whether the good society can be defined by its output of goods and services. During the Cold War, it was a point of pride for America to out-score the Soviet Union in measures of national production - from steel tonnage to wheat acreage. Few Americans asked if this massive outpouring of products made the United States a better country.

That issue, however, is being raised in the 1990s. As Mumford suggested years ago, it's increasingly clear that the unbridled pursuit of wealth is severely damaging American values and perhaps the future American economy. The modern economy, for example, depends heavily on a high demand for consumer goods. To stimulate that demand, advertisers use glossy images of glamour and sex and, in general, promote the notion that hedonism is the preferred American way of life. So much for Calvinist discipline and delayed gratification that helped create modern capitalism. So much for "family values" when competing with the shopping mall.

Yet in recent years, the average American has found it harder to maintain a high consumption lifestyle. The median American household income has remained stagnant at an inflation-adjusted $30,000 for the past 25 years. To fill the gap between income and consumption, many Americans have put themselves deeply into hock. Americans now have the highest level of consumer debt in the world and the highest personal debt level in U.S. history.

Americans need to redefine what they mean by success. The current mind-set that equates success with financial wealth demeans individual dignity. Having known numerous rich people over the years, I have seen little connection - above a certain amount needed for security - between personal happiness and a bank account. Of course, it's better to be rich than poor, but a stable middle-class income may be the golden mean of personal economics.

The greatest personal crisis for many Americans today isn't financial destitution, but a poverty of the spirit, a bankruptcy of the inner life. This is especially true for many people who have achieved some level of material comfort and are wondering, "Is this all there is to life?"

Indeed, even in purely cynical self-interest, it's stupid to define success in a manner that can be taken away from you by a corporate downsizing or a dip in the stock market.

Labor Day is a respite from the workplace. The treadmill, however, restarts Tuesday. Americans should be asking whether the career path will take them where they truly want to go.

David Awbrey is editorial page editor of The Wichita (Kan.) Eagle.