Workaholism in America: A European's perspective

This reality is unfortunately very true in the US. My mother used to joke about the fact that our 18th birthday would consist of a moving trucks as a present. While it was a tongue in cheek joke there was without a doubt a grain of truth to her attitude. Fortunately for me, my grandparents took me in long before that. They came from a different culture than my mother. I am from the US south and the old southerners have a distinctly different culture than that of the rest of the us. There was a lot more French and Spanish influence in the south and up until my grandparents generation that culture was the norm. Anyways, not to side track too much into the distinct cultures of the US or the loss of those cultures, but my point is my grandparents came from a culture in which it was normal for a child to live and help around the home until the time that they where on stable footing to go out into the world. Usually there was a gift of land or some other property that would help the child start to make their way in the world. All of my grandfathers siblings got a portion of the homestead when they became of age from my Great-Grandfather. That was pretty much the norm in the American south up until around the 1940's. While I did not receive a gift of land, I did receive the gift of time. My grandparents allowed me to live with them and supported me while I pursued ventures to that would help me make it in the world. On the final venture they purchased a computer for me and the rest was history. Had I been forced out at 18 who knows where I would have ended up I certainly know that I would not enjoy the quality of life I do know. For that I am eternally grateful to them. I plan to do the same for my children, I always talk to them about ways to make money and be your own boss. Better yet I serve as an example to them. I plan to make sure that before any one of my kids leaves home that they have a functional and profitable venture to call their own. That is the greatest gift you can ever give to your children, the gift of time to discover one's self.

The thing to remember is that not only is their a cultural element to this but there is also an economic element to this. I have read several studies that state while the American quality of life measured on the indicators of food availability and health care has significantly improved, the real wealth of the average US citizen has declined. So some of this cultural element seems to be born out of necessity.