Ambition And Society

The Correlation Between Society and our Ambition Here in the United States, we live in the land of the bare-minimum. We pull into work moments before we need to clock-in, we count down the minutes before we get to leave, and we put off any projects we have to do away from work (or school) until the last minute. Why are we so inclined to do as little work as possible? What is so important to do that we can’t spare a few minutes to put a bit more effort in? The answer isn’t simple, but it lies within all of us. We aren’t “wired” to procrastinate or be lazy. In fact, we are made to work until the job is done. If that is so, then why do we so often quit before our work is complete? We act like this because we have been told to by our society …show more content…
On the contrary; many of the most accomplished people around us are always putting their best work in. But why do most shows and movies insist on only looking at the product of their hard work? Now, I understand that televising games and concerts is much more entertaining, and I respect that, but overlooking the work the athletes and musicians have done to get there is incredibly naive. Every high school basketball player wants to have a jump shot like Steph Curry, and every drummer wants to play like Bonham, but few have the work ethic to make that dream happen. According to Amy Chua and Jed Rubenfeld, authors of the New York Times article “What Drives Success?”, “...research shows that perseverance and motivation can be taught, especially to young children.” If this is so -- and I agree that it is -- why are we teaching these kids that it’s okay to neglect your work? These learning experiences should be used to teach them about time management and stopping procrastination; a point not made in the …show more content…
Brian Jones says it best in his article, “Parents Value Schools, but Society Doesn’t”. Most of his article focuses on how much value parents put into education versus society, but one of the statistics really stands out to me. “[I]n the 2011-2012 school year, 1,168,354 American children entered school while homeless.” My opposition may attribute this number to the fact that there are laws prohibiting children from skipping school, and that that means society is the real reason that they are in school. On the surface that seems logical, but there aren’t government officials going door to door looking for missing kids. These poverty-stricken parents know what it’s like to be without a job and home, so they put all their effort into giving their kids a better life than they