Et Tu, Homer?

Simpson that is! A few articles in the past few weeks have called into question one of America’s favorite pastimes – namely, working. The Daily Beast had an article yesterday that labeled the U.S. as the laziest country in the world (www.thedailybeast.com/blogs-and-stories/2010-02-17/the-laziest-countries) Using Internet usage, calorie intake, aversion to sports and television viewing per day, they found Americans to be the least active of the OECD countries. But aren’t we the hardest working country in the world? Isn’t it our Protestant Work Ethic that made us great? Aren’t we the country that doesn’t have any time for fun, because we’re too busy working our, apparently bulging, asses off? Actually, wait – that could still be true. Methodology is often that underreported element of these silly studies we count on to give us information and determine the public will. Here the article appeared to be tongue in cheek, but just to be clear --- maybe Americans are so “lazy” because they work so hard they find it hard to find time for sports or other diversions (many Americans go to the gym, which is not generally considered sport – except to those wolves trying to pick someone up at the club). And calorie intake could actually be related to exercise, as those who exercise more would eat more to restore their energy – though a quick look around the streets of middle America and their middles does seem to indicate too many Twinkie aperitifs before and after dinner. A final thought on the study – Internet use. While I can’t speak for women, men use the Internet for a number of things – one of which actually could be considered exercise . . .

The second article goes back to December, when an adjunct instructor up in Boston argued Americans are the laziest students: www.boston.com/bostonglobe/editorial_opinion/oped/articles/2009/12/21/my_lazy_american_students?mode=PF. This caused an uproar among some, while others provided their strong agreement with the claim: www.insidehighered.com/layout/set/print/news/2010/01/04/miller. Being a professor myself, I must agree that many American students seem lazy, uninterested, uninspired and in need of very specific, detailed instructions for almost any assignment – as contrasted with students from other countries, who tend to be harder working and generally turn in better work. Stereotyping students like this is, of course, wrought with peril, but it does seem true that the next generation does have a sense of entitlement and a lack of motivation for schools and intellectual pursuits. I find plenty of students that challenge this claim, but the aforementioned Internet and television usage, together with the Ipods, cell phones and other technology that keeps these students busy for 7.5 hours a day (according to Kaiser Family Foundation) certainly is a call for concern. On the other hand, the school where I teach has students that work part or full-time, take a full load of classes and do turn in their work on time most of the time. I’m not sure if laziness really describes the American today, but inactive in the traditional sense appears to be a fair claim. Time to go for a jog!