[September 23, 2017] I’ve been meaning to write on this topic for a long time but could not put the right words together. Time was being wasted so I’ll just jump right in to discuss an important issue that has weighed on my mind for decades. Hard working people are those who make any society (or organization) successful and thus it is only logical that all of us should go out of our way to support them.
The great American inventor Thomas Edison once said that “There is no substitute for hard work.” But like all those who do great things, he also had financial backing, other scientists as mentors, and dedicated family members that helped him through the tough times by providing the additional motivation and occasional aid it took for him to persevere.
Success comes from a combination of the right traits in any person. Edison certainly got the idea of hard work but he knew, like so many of those who do well in life, that it takes more. For example, determination, dedication, and preparation are additional features of a successful leader. U.S. Army General Colin Powell said just as much when he talked about there being no secrets to success … just hard work and help from others who can show the way.
Some folks today don’t see it that way. They believe that hard work is code for racism and target those, like Colin Powell, who espouse a work ethic. Recently two tenured law professors, Amy Wax and Larry Alexander, wrote a column in the Philadelphia Inquirer that articulated the social practices at the heart of middle class America (see link here).
Their advice was to get married before having children, get an education, work hard, avoid idleness, go the extra mile, be a patriot, be neighborly, civic-minded, charitable, avoid coarse language, respectful of authority, and avoid substance abuse and crime. Both advocated returning to those social norms that improve people’s lives. This also meant getting support from others. Yet, both Wax and Alexander were maligned and degraded for their comments about productive members of society.
So, there are those who don’t believe in making our society better by supporting those who work hard. Fortunately, common sense tells us otherwise. All great leaders, scientists who made great discoveries, political leaders who lead their nation through a desperate crisis, and business leaders who pulled their company out of an impossible bankruptcy, all had support along the way that made the difference in great and greatness.
Without others, you will never achieve you maximum potential.
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