I couldn't get the whole article but there is enough of the entire article for you to hopefully get Mr. Stein's message. Joel Stein writes a column for Time magazine and I happened across this most recent article and thought you would enjoy. Feel free to read and comment on Mr. Stein's point.
Mr. Thompson
I understand what Stein is trying to point out here, but I do not entirely agree with him- yes, America is lazy, but not as lazy as he entails, and not the entirity of America is lazy. From what I see in this rising generation, there are plenty of youth who are actually quite the opposite.
ReplyDeleteI know that we were not able to read the full article, but Stein did not mention why America is so lazy or what we can do to decrease or completely eliminate American idleness. I wonder if in the whole article, Stein was trying to make a very specific point because in the part of the article that we had access to, Stein was just stating what we already know: the existence of American idleness.
-Chalane Tanner: a pending writer, sodden in impatience and sleep deprivation
To start off I would just like to say that Stein is a very opinionated person, and he is allowed his own thoughts and beliefs. During this article I was interested in the things that he said to make his point. An example of this is in the eighth paragraph he stated, "Our great-grandparents worked hard so we wouldn't have to". I only agree with half of this statement because I believe that our grandparents did work hard for us, but it wasn't so we could be less caring of our future. They worked hard so that we could have the best life that we can create. Not eveyone is a hard worker, take me for example, I have been really lazy this year so far, but I know that has to change if I want a successful future. Then there are people that are totally the opposite of me. I know a girl that has two AP math classes and she is doing the best that she possibly can. She is one person that I would not call lazy or uncaring. Stein's article was an eye opener, but just how well did he explain both sides, granted I could't read the whole article, but I would like to know if he was just a little bit biased in his article. Another point that kind of disappointed me was in the eighth paragraph again Stein stated "To strive is to dishonor them". I strongly disagree with this statement because I think that our ancestors would be honored that they helped our generation succeed. I don't believe our relatives would be the least bit dishonored. Yes Stein made some good points with the statistics but other points, like the ones listed above, were kind of hard to believe.
ReplyDeleteCourtney Kyyra
While i was reading this article, I thought to myself, this guy is kind of nuts. Stein stated that our great-grandparents "worked hard so we wouldn't have to" I agree that maybe generations prior to us have worked harder, but Stein makes it seem like we don't want to work at all. This is the flaw i see in his point because there are many people in the US struggling, looking for jobs. Not everyone is as lazy as he implies. I am interested to see what the whole article had to say because of the fact that he is strongly attached to the idea that laziness is the cause of our problems.
ReplyDelete- Boris Cvijetinovic
I agree with mostly everything that Stein covered in this article. Being a teenager in the twenty first century I relate with wanting time for leisure over time for work. The results he found are not surprising to me because it is human instinct to have as much fun as possible and being stuck in an office building isn’t exactly a highlight to many people. Americans have been tagged the lazy one for a reason. But in our defense Stein, for a lack of a better word, was very snotty toward Americans. Not all of them are as extremely lazy as he portrays them to be.
ReplyDelete- Jade Spaulding
Wow! Let me just start off by saying I thought that was pretty harsh article. Stein portrayed America as a slacker generation by generalizing everybody as being lazy. I do understand that the statistics show that we have become a much less driven country, but isn't there some blame to place on our future generation for that? We didn't just pick up these habbits on our own. Leisure has become more desirable than work, but that doesn't make us these horrible people with no goals. I would like to finsih the article and see if Stein ever does give credit to the Americans who have been working hard, but at this point I'd say I have to disagree with this article.
ReplyDelete-Liz Jorgenson
For the most part, I disagree with this article. Although Stein did make a point that America has become much more lazy compared to the previous generations before us, he portrayed all Americans these days as lazy and not hard working; that is definitely not true. I understand where his opinions are coming from when he talks about how we prefer leisure over work, but who wouldn't? Vacation will always sound more appealing than being at work, but that doesn't mean work isn't just as important as having some free time in a your life. I would like to know if he ends this article the same way he started it, blunt and bias.
ReplyDelete- Melinda Hars
I think that Stein is mostly referring to laziness when it comes to the work place. I don't agree that Americans are getting lazy at work, I just think that we are starting to realize that there are more important things in life than being a workaholic. The typical American is finding that family time and hobbies are a more important focus, therefore putting more energy towards them.
ReplyDeleteThis is not true for all Americans however. Some Americans work extreamly hard to get where they are today. Just look at Steve Jobs, Mark Zukerburg, or Oprah Winfrey. Each of these Americans had to work hard in their careers and in other aspects of their lifes.
Most Americans may not necessarily be "lazy" but are taking time to smell the roses and enjoy the finer things in life, or, as Stein stated, find work- life balance. But even with this new found balance, many Americans in my opinion are still working just as hard as our grandparents, only in different ways.
-kayla halverson
I have given Joel Stein's article for an exchange of an opinion. I do believe in the statistics that he provided in his article about how Americans have been proven to not want to work as much as they have in the past. We have the technology to assist us with things, so what's the point of doing things you don't have to do? Stein also states that Americans prefer leisure over work...of course...what proper minded human being wouldn't? I would also like to point out the fact that he only refer to the word "lazy" only upon work within business. As humans, maybe we've come to realize that there's more to life than having a day to day, 8-12hr shift job. Does it consider us to be lazy to want to enjoy the short life we have? If realizing that life doesn't revolve working means that we're lazy then so let it be...but that leaves me taking a stand to say spending more time enjoying life does not make you "lazy". I hope people like Joel Stein and himself takes the time to think about "life" and the purpose of it before they pass.
ReplyDelete-Theresa Bui
Joel Stein does have a point about people not working as hard as we use to in the past, but that dosent mean they are lazy. Yes there are lazy people who try to take the short cut to get things done quicker in the work place because they have the technologies that allow them to do so. Stein is only reffering to the lazziness in the work place. Just because people arent working as much does not mean they are lazy, it could simply mean they are spending their time doing other things with their family, friends, and keeping themselves healthy. Whoever said that the only way to be busy was to be in a work enviornment? With the technologies we have people can make their work days more efficent and have time to do others things that benifite themselves.
ReplyDelete-Lindsey Goerss
I disagree with what Joel Stein said in his article. His a very weird guy and doesn't know what his talking about. Americans work as hard now as they have ever done. I don't agree with him saying that they are "lazy" just because they don't work as much as their grandparents did. They are realizing that there's more to life then just going to work everyday and doing pretty much they same thing over and over again. Stein says that Americans prefer leisure over work, but if you honestly think about that, anyone in there god giving mind would prefer that. Why go to work when you can be doing something else.
ReplyDelete-Dami Adebayo
I agree with Joel Stein that Americans have become a lot more lazy than they were when our great-grandparents were alive. Even though he is very sarcastic and harsh with this topic, some of what he said is true. I think Americans today don't have a good work ethic like Americans used to way back in the day. If someone won the lottery now in 2012, I don't think that they would keep working. Americans like the thought of easy money and that's the easiest way of making money that i can think of. Not saying that this is how every American is, but a good chunk of Americans would take the easy way if they won the lottery.
ReplyDelete-Kaitlyn Bjorngaard
Joel Stein says Americans got lazier than we were in the past. I agree with Joel because with this new fast technology gives us the less time to do work and more time to do other things in life. Stein also states that we take leisure over work, I would agree with him because people over the years decided more free time than doing work. Joel Stein also says that in 1955 more Americans would keep their jobs but compared to now I would think people would take a break and have a lot more free time.
ReplyDelete-Mohamud Sugulle