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Comment by caconym_ | Hacker News Reader

The phrase "work ethic" pisses me off because it codes this idea that I should be a hard worker, which of course (because we live in the world we live in) refers to me busting my ass for somebody else's benefit.

Anyone who wants to criticize my work ethic can go and fuck themselves. I work incredibly hard, but at my job^[1] I do as little work as I can get away with (while retaining the standing I need to be comfortable) because they pay me as little as they can get away with. I don't see the problem.

^[1] Coveted tech job. It is a "great job" and in practical terms I feel lucky to have it. None of that changes the calculus of the business relationship that is employment.

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I hate the work ethic mantra. It implies millennial just cluelessly stumbled into their jobs if they have them, or screwed up their life if they didn't.

Mr. Boomer didn't need 3 summer internships and a 3.80 gpa to get their job.

> I work incredibly hard, but at my job^[1] I do as little work as I can get away with (while retaining the standing I need to be comfortable) because they pay me as little as they can get away with. I don't see the problem.

A lot of people will see that as laziness, but businesses do that kind of cost-benefit adjustment all the time. If a business keeps paying a person who is working less, that's on them, not the employee.

I think a more reasonable attitude is that it’s usually possible to improve your material wealth with effort, and people can decide to make the trade-off if they think it’s worth it. This is not a value judgement.

> This is not a value judgement.

Where "this" is the term "work ethic"? For you, maybe not, but for others it is certainly used to articulate a value judgment, hence my dislike of the term. I don't think it's precise or accurate enough to avoid being used in this negatively loaded way.

I agree that "it’s usually possible to improve your material wealth with effort, and people can decide to make the trade-off if they think it’s worth it." That is exactly the sort of trade-off I claim to be making, with the additional note that it's a continuum rather than an either/or choice.

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