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Americans are over-worked and nearly vacation less.
There is an oft-cited Puritan proverb: Idle hands are the Devil's tools.
Meaning that when one is idle, having nothing to work on, he or she is likely to descend into some sort of moral debauchery. Leave a man and a woman without a task and they made find some other ways to amuse themselves. In fact Cindy Aron, who has written a recent book on Americans' work and vacation styles, argues that until the late 19th century "idleness [was] perceived as sources of moral, spiritual, financial and political danger."
The Puritan work ethic engendered an industrious spirit in the American people. To constantly attend to their work while minding leisure less. And this work ethic has held in spite of the fact that America has become a lot less Puritan.
Millions of Americans are of Italian heritage and Italian life is known for its appreciation of "la dolce vita". Millions more are Catholic. Hispanics are a growin minority and Latino heritage also places a major emphasis on festivals. And Jews in America have a forgotten history of common vacations:
"From the 1930s onwards Jews living in New York started to holiday in the hundreds of rooming houses and hotels that sprouted in the nearby Ctskill mountains. By all accounts the self-contained world they created there every summer was dedicated unabashedly to pleasure."
And, yet, the "idle hands" warning dictum still holds sway. Americans simply do not enjoy the vacation time that Europeans take for granted. This is an over-worked nation and even when on vacation, Americans have a hard time un-plugging entirely and feel the need to justify their time off by doing something educational or the like:
These show that in 2009 the average American adult received about 13 days of holiday, whereas the average Briton enjoyed a luxurious 26. The average “working” Frenchman, infuriatingly, had 38 days. Worse yet, more than a third of Americans do not even take all the days they are allowed. In 2009, harrumphs Expedia, Americans “gave back” a total of 436m vacation days. [...]Even when Americans do take time off, they find it hard to relax. [...]
And yet neither affluence nor diversity seem to have made it as easy for Americans to relax on holiday in the way that guilt-free Europeans do. The American vacationer unable to silence his inner Puritan for those paltry 13 days a year must combine his holiday with some self-improving experience. Children are sent to camp to learn the Great Outdoors, or taught to fish or light fires by over-earnest fathers. Communing with history is another way to stiffen the laxity of a vacation: famous buildings, battlefields and landmarks are popular and lucrative draws. Not even Disney believes it can prosper by selling escapism alone. Hence its proposal for an American-history theme park outside Washington, DC (a scheme thwarted by the objections of local residents). And if the educational holiday fails, there is always the pilgrimage.
The nation and the American people unfortunately suffer. American life would be much more satisfying, fulfilling and blessed if Americans would take more vacations, lay back and just enjoy life.
If the economic crash taught us anything, is that the 'rat race' in American life is destructive. American industry has given us a lot. But now is the time to such take it down a notch and enjoy simple idleness in life.
Source: The Economist.
