> Following the wisdom of my guru, the Sage of Saskatoon,I would qualify my remarks by noting that the interest in 'getting rich' is culture dependent in a society where incentives are biased in favor of individual consumption of material goods and against collective consumption of immaterial things, against environmental and similar amenities, and against leisure. This I think increases the desire to 'get rich.' Even so, you can't function politically by wishing it away or telling people they have the wrong preferences.
> mbs ====================
At the same time, neither quietism about the perverse incentives nor encouraging more people to become capitalists will solve the "immobility" problems of capitalism. The environment is not an amenity.............
Today's human resources management seeks to promote employee appreciation of "lateral moves" rather than upward mobility and "non-material rewards" rather than higher wages:
***** WHERE IS YOUR CAREER HEADED? By Kathy Thomas-Massey
Which way is up? If we define "up" in terms of career success, the trek is not always vertical. Nowadays, its about career paths and career itineraries, not career ladders. Studies show that Americans change careers an average of seven times in a lifetime. Our changing workplace has placed those splintering career ladders on shaky ground....
...Through some hard-learned lessons, many of us now know that our employer cannot and will not always be able to reward us with money and promotions - even when we do an excellent job. Organizations are beginning to look at other ways to reward employees and increase job satisfaction when upward mobility and salary increases aren't possible.
A few vehicles for promoting job satisfaction and organizational mobility are lateral moves, long-term special project assignments, job-sharing programs, and cross training. Other vehicles are more holistic in their approach and are aimed at developing the whole person (not just from a professional standpoint). One such vehicle is a program called "Work, Change and You," available through the Center for Education and Quality Assessment, in the Office of Human Resources.
...When employees can't move upwardly in the organization as quickly as they once could, agencies (and employees) have to get creative to develop interesting and challenging environments so employees will stay longer in their current jobs. Work, Change and You serves as a first-step in the career planning process in that it enables employees to gain self-awareness ("What do I want to be when I grow up and am I there yet?"), strengthen communication, and maintain personal effectiveness while experiencing change, uncertainty, and career plateaus.
Through a series of self-discovery activities, the program helps employees learn more about their career anchoring patterns, their occupational personality, the relevance of personal and professional relationships, and their level of appreciation for nonmonetary awards....
<http://www.state.sc.us/ohr/additionalhr/hrreviewspring99.pdf> *****
Given such a management direction, Americans' desire and expectation to get "rich someday" may be a way of expressing cultural resistance to the idea that workers should settle for "lateral moves" and "non-material rewards" and forget about wages and promotions.
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Yoshie
* Calendar of Events in Columbus: <http://www.osu.edu/students/sif/calendar.html>
* Student International Forum: <http://www.osu.edu/students/sif/>
* Committee for Justice in Palestine: <http://www.osudivest.org/>
* Al-Awda-Ohio: <http://groups.yahoo.com/group/Al-Awda-Ohio>
* Solidarity: <http://solidarity.igc.org/>
