Cultural Happiness
January 5, 2009
Every year people I know fly down to the poorest areas in Latin America and build houses, rehab churches, or offer their time for some sort of charity. One thing that these people always comment about is how happy everyone down there is, despite having nothing. This is an anomaly that has always bothered me, because I can't figure out what it is that makes them feel so great. Kerry Howly and Richard Rodriguez had an interesting exchange on this topic on a recent episode of Blogginghads.tv. Howly thinks Latin Americans are statistical outliers because wealth and happiness are strongly correlated (a highly debatable point, but we'll let it go for now). Rodriguez thinks it has to do with how the different cultures derive identity. Watch:
In case you missed it, the key point is this: [Mexicans] do not take their identity from their work. They take their identity from their families. They take their identity from leisure. And in a culture in which work is a source of identity, menial work becomes trivializing or it diminishes the human being; so the American working class is under a different burden [than Mexican workers].
And here is the fundamental problem with defining yourself by work: your work is never good enough. No matter what position you hold in your company, you could always be one step higher. No matter what your salary is, it could always be higher. A hamburger flipper could always aspire to a McDonald's shift supervisor; the supervisor might someday because the store manager; and then what? Defining yourself as "McDonald's store manager" isn't enough for society, yet American society says that being a McDonald's store manager makes a person who they are.
I'm not suggesting Rodriguez's point is the answer to the puzzle of why Americans aren't happy - but it makes a lot of sense, and at least provides some clue to the ultimate answer.
In case you missed it, the key point is this: [Mexicans] do not take their identity from their work. They take their identity from their families. They take their identity from leisure. And in a culture in which work is a source of identity, menial work becomes trivializing or it diminishes the human being; so the American working class is under a different burden [than Mexican workers].
And here is the fundamental problem with defining yourself by work: your work is never good enough. No matter what position you hold in your company, you could always be one step higher. No matter what your salary is, it could always be higher. A hamburger flipper could always aspire to a McDonald's shift supervisor; the supervisor might someday because the store manager; and then what? Defining yourself as "McDonald's store manager" isn't enough for society, yet American society says that being a McDonald's store manager makes a person who they are.
I'm not suggesting Rodriguez's point is the answer to the puzzle of why Americans aren't happy - but it makes a lot of sense, and at least provides some clue to the ultimate answer.
At McDonald's, there is always the chance to move up the ranks, always a place for opportunity, as I learned in researching by book, "Everything I Know About Business I learned at McDonald's." While other companies do not put their resources towards growing their employees' skill sets, McD largely focuses in rewarding talent with spots up the corporate ladder, or even towards entrepreneurship. Don't opportunities provide a foundation for happiness?
--Adina Genn