"Whatever your life's work is, do it well. A man should do his job so well that the living, the dead, and the unborn could do it no better." This quote by Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., promotes the idea that people should devote themselves to their work and do so with passion and excitement, whether or not it brings the person a sense of pleasure. Dr. Kings' quote encourages societies to find purpose in the work that they do and continue to do it well. It also inspire the idea that an individual should re-evaluate the meaning of working and finding that path in life intended for them. Although the rates of unemployment are at an all-time high, Dr. Kings' statement still rings true in today's modern economic downturn.
First, in the text "Writing and Reading Across the Curriculum," by Laurence Behrens and Leonard J. Rosen has many stories that best describes the idea of people working for a purpose and providing an opportunity for someone else. One of the essay "No Long Term: New Work and the Corrosion of Character," by Richard Sennett writes about a man named Enrico who worked as a janitor to support his family and providing more possibilities in life for his sons. Even though Enrico hated that job, he did it without complaint. He allowed himself to see the bigger picture in which caring for his wife and providing opportunities for his sons were more important than his own happiness. The common trend in most immigrant or working class families is to work hard for the single purpose of attaining that elusive American dream. Immigrants and working class families are likely to want their children to go beyond the life that they have known and achieve success that would make living much easier. Even in today's economy this purpose still lives in everyone; which is the single-mindedness of giving a better life to their families and finding creative ways to reach that goal even with this economy.
