Your threats have been duly noted, and I’ll go hide under my desk now.
I agree with you, though, that the work ethic can get out of hand. I don’t see the point in having a society that doesn’t result in the people in it leading better lives, and if we are so busy that that starts to suffer, then society is not serving its purpose.
That being said, I enjoy indoor plumbing, electricity, and having cures for diseases and am perfectly willing to work as a cog in the machine to ensure that the system keeps working, while trying to retain balance. The reason your deadbeat existence is frowned upon is because, if everyone were like you, the system would break down and my electricity, internet, and access to modern medical care would likely be in some peril.
I work because I do want the system to work, because I enjoy my job, and because I like having the cash to do the things I want and to meet my own needs. I don’t find it necessary that everyone do this, and if I were independently wealthy, I would probably feel guilty about keeping my job (as it’s a space someone else could have), though I probably wouldn’t want to quit. It in no way hurts my soul to go to work at my job, which I feel is valuable and fulfilling. I’ve never worked a particularly dehumanizing job, though, so others’ mileage will vary. You may be overestimating the extent to which others find their jobs to be dehumanizing. I talk to my coworkers about their families, people take off for vacations, or appointments, or whatever, some of them have kids, and most of them seem pretty happy. They don’t seem to feel dehumanized.
To answer your OP, I consider a good work ethic to be a sense of balance and a willingness to not cut corners in any part of your life. Much of a normal person’s day could be considered work in some way: preparing food, working in the lawn, child rearing, working to maintain personal relationships (sometimes recreational, sometimes a pain in the neck!), working to keep their house livable, their laundry clean, their bills in order, and the list goes on. In fact, a paying job could be a relatively small portion of someone’s work. I wouldn’t consider someone who was at work 80 hours a week at the expense of his other obligations to have a particularly good work ethic(assuming he’d made a commitment to other things. If he just wanted to work, more power to him) , but others would . I would consider someone with a good work ethic to be someone who has goals and works consistently and diligently toward them, whatever they are.
The only hard part for me is wanting more hours in the day, because there’s only so much time for all this stuff.
