If you were told that statistics show that Americans work harder than Japanese, you will be surprised and suspicious. But when you work and live in the United States, you can really feel the diligence of Americans, and that diligence is generally efficient and effective. This twenty-year-old article is devoted to American diligence.
If an American tells you that "Americans are more diligent at work than Japanese," most people will be surprised and skeptical. However, through the experience of working in the United States, I really feel that Americans are indeed very hardworking, and this diligence has been well rewarded.
Most Americans are willing to fly long distances because it saves time. But even those few hours on a plane are not willing to be wasted. As a result, we often see that on airplanes, many people open their books or laptops and concentrate on their work. Also, in budget hotels frequented by the average American, we often see a lot of guests eating breakfast casually, flipping through papers, and preparing for their morning's workOr, in the late hours of the day, gather in the hotel lobby to talk about work. In short, in many parts of the United States, you can see people on the go, and you can feel the tense pace of life and work.
As for the reason why Americans are diligent, the author believes that to a certain extent, it comes from their strong material desires, and this pursuit of material things is directly manifested in the pursuit of money-dollar. Americans are very good at enjoying life, and they have to make more dollars, so they need to work harder. In layman's terms, it is "able to earn and spend". Especially in the era of the prevailing credit system, a large amount of consumption** has wiped out the dollars in Americans' credit cards, and many Americans have also taken out a large number of loans to consume and become "losers", so it is even more necessary to work hard to earn money. Now, let's first take a look at how ordinary Americans spend their money lavishly.
One isHouse. In ordinary areas of the United States, residential units** are not very expensive, but they are generally relatively spacious, most of them are villas with large compounds, and each property ** generally costs hundreds of thousands of dollars. If it is in some big cities, the unit of the house will be very high, such as the apartment price in Manhattan, New York has reached 10,000 US dollars per square meter, so even a small apartment property is very expensive. Once Americans have a stable income, most Americans will take out a loan to buy a house and choose a long repayment period of 30 years. If their income increases, they will sell their existing home along with their debts and then borrow more money to buy a bigger house. As a result, buying a house, borrowing and repaying the loan has become an important expense that accompanies most Americans throughout their lives.
The second isInsurance. Unlike Europe, the United States is a low-tax, low-welfare country. In order to provide for the elderly and medical care, Americans must take out a large part of their salary to buy various insurances. According to the regulations, Americans need to take out 10% of their salary as pension savings, which will be managed by **, and the pension will be issued according to the amount of savings after retirement. Since the United States does not give subsidies, Americans have very limited pensions from statutory channels. Therefore, there are many private companies that deal with different varieties of supplementary pension insurance, which of course need to be purchased by individuals. There is also health insurance, which costs several thousand dollars a year, of which the employer pays a very low proportion and is mainly borne by the individual. It can be said that buying various commercial insurance policies is a heavy expense for Americans.
The third isMotion. Americans are very fond of sports, and unlike Chinese who like to watch competitive sports broadcasts on TV, Americans seem to prefer and have the financial means to participate in various sports in person. Aristocratic sports like golf are also very popular in the United States, and there are many middle-income earners who often participate in it. Playing a round of golf in the U.S. typically costs a few tens of dollars, which is very cheap, but if you play every week, it can add up to a lot of money (especially for middle-income earners). I also know a young American who is very enthusiastic about ice hockey, and he lives in the south-central United States, where the climate is very hot, it is conceivable that the cost of participating in this sport must be quite considerable. In short, Americans are very willing to spend money on sports and fitness.
Four areTourism. Affluent Americans are very fond of vacations and travel. According to statistics, 1 in 3 people travel abroad in the United States every year, and most people go on a long-distance trip once a year. Even the poor will opt for some budget vacations that are closer to home. As for driving outings or excursions on weekends, it's even more commonplace. Economists estimate that Americans already spend about 20 percent of their income each year on vacations, or thousands of dollars per person on average.
Fifth, yesCar. The United States is a vast country with a dense road network, and the pace of life and work in the United States is very fast, so the automobile has become an indispensable means of transportation in American life. With the average American household owning more than two cars, the United States can be said to be a country that lives on the wheels of a car. Car insurance, gas, repairs and maintenance, and all sorts of car-related expenses can cost a few hundred dollars a month from the time you buy a new car.
Six isServe. The social service industry in the United States is very developed, but due to the high labor costs caused by high wages, many services have to be charged extra, that is, you need to pay a tip to move a piece of luggage and serve a plate, so that we can experience what a money society is. And Americans seem to have Xi this, and still choose more social services, such as sending dirty laundry to the laundry, hiring someone to tidy up the lawn, and so on. These expenses may seem insignificant, but they add up to a lot of money.
These expenses, when calculated one by one, form a huge expense for an American family. For more consumption and better enjoyment, working hard has become the only correct and legal choice for most Americans
It can be said that because of the long-term living in the market economy environment, this attitude of hard work has been integrated into the blood of most Americans, and even those who are already very wealthy will still work hard under the inertia drive. The author once met an old man in his eighties in the United States, and his life's hard work has allowed him to accumulate a very considerable wealth. However, his physical condition is not very good, and to use his own joke, he doesn't know if he will be able to get up tomorrow if he sleeps today, so he will never make arrangements and promises for what will happen in a month's time. Even so, he still does not want to take a break, often telling his business partners that he is uncomfortable and wants to find a new profitable business to do. In the United States, this is definitely not an exception, and silver-haired elderly people who are still working hard can be seen everywhere.
Having said all this, there may still be many people who still do not believe that Americans will be more diligent than Japanese, Koreans, Chinese?In fact, there is also the issue of efficiency and effectiveness of diligence。The author believes that in addition to people's own enthusiasm for hard work, a good economic system arrangement will make hard work more efficient and obtain better results, and American society has achieved exactly this.
Over the past century or so, a relatively good economic system has gradually developed in American society: if any individual, whether it is in the field of science and technology, or in the service sector, invents a new way to increase efficiency and reduce waste, the inventor can share a large proportion of the new economic benefits brought by it. As a result, a good atmosphere of emphasizing efficiency, encouraging invention and creation, and attaching importance to the protection of intellectual property rights has been formed in American society. Whether it is the "Internet" in the field of science and technology, the "Ford production line" in the field of management, or the "traveler's check" in the field of service, their inventions have greatly improved social efficiency, and their inventors have also obtained rich economic benefits in market competition.
In short, it is saidIn order to earntakeMore dollars, Americans are especially keen to use their brains and createoutWays to increase efficiency and reduce waste, and make personal gains from itAs a result, the division of production in American society has been continuously refined, inventions and creations have emerged one after another, and social services have become more diverse and thoughtful. Under this economic institutional arrangement, not only do Americans appear to be very diligent, but American society is much less inefficient and wasteful than other societies. This explains, to a certain extent, why the United States has been able to maintain its position as the number one scientific and technological power and the number one economic power in the world for a long time.
In short,Driven by the dollar, Americans work as diligently as a spinning top。Not only that, because of the good economic institutional arrangements, the diligence of Americans is relatively efficient, and the results are very remarkable. This point is indeed worthy of our Chinese's deep consideration and reference!