EP 25 - Make Your Own Job: How the Entrepreneurial Work Ethic Exhausted America with Erik Baker

The entrepreneurial spirit in America has become more prominent since the 19th century as people are increasingly believing that the way to make it is not as a worker but as a business ownerIn this episode of Books in 5, the author of "Make Your Own Job: How the Entrepreneurial Work Ethic Exhausted America" joins us to detail how positive values of work ethic and loyalty were overtaken in the early 20th century by the desire to show initiative and try to succeed on one's own, the success of self-help authors who pushed a narrative of believing in oneself, the power of family-businesses such as Koch Industries who pushed the line of entrepreneurism and why this ethos is again rearing it's head in the modern era as gig work becomes ever-present.When the American economy slows and workers struggle in precarious positions, the push for people to make their own way in the world is a seductive message.Erik Baker is Lecturer on the History of Science at Harvard University. His writing has appeared in Harper’s, n+1, The Baffler, Jewish Currents, and The Drift, where he is Associate Editor.https://www.hup.harvard.edu/books/978...https://x.com/erikmbakerhttps://www.thedriftmag.com/