The New Puritans
These are but a few voices in a choir that sings a catchy tune about a vast swath of people who have lost touch with the ethical and cultural importance of hard work. They are the New Puritans, reliant not upon any long-term economic analysis or examination of structural problems, but on a simplistic mythology about American values and a quasi-religious sanctification of the providence of work.
.. The New Puritans are snake oil salesmen hawking an all-in-one moral solution to a make-believe cultural problem. The crux of the matter is that Americans work some of the longest hours in the developed world and have seen dramatic increases in labor productivity over the past half century – two facts in direct contradiction to the claims of Dr. Path and others like him.
.. The New Puritans see the growth of welfare recipients during this time of recovery as a problem of dependency and not, despite all the evidence, as a problem of profitable companies hoarding wealth and refusing to justly compensate workers
.. America now carries the dubious distinction of having some of the most highly educated low-wage employees in the world: nearly one-fifth of all low wage earners have a four year college degree.