For many, Labor Day has lacked the meaning associated with other holidays other than punctuating the end of summer. Properly understood, the holiday celebrates not only labor but also the ideas, job creators, and institutions central to the flourishing of the United States and its people.
Colonial America benefited because early settlers were self-selecting people willing to cross a dangerous ocean and start life over in the new world. Because they were tough, willing to sacrifice, and taking risks, these settlers were predisposed to work hard and forgo immediate gratification. The Puritans not only prospered but within a generation or two, many of their descendants achieved surprising wealth that, in many cases, was created from nothing.
Alexis de Tocqueville, whose ever-relevant classic, Democracy in America—published in 1840—pointed out that in contrast to Europeans, Americans regard work as “positively honorable.” In part, this was attributable to Christian influence in America. The Bible makes more than 450 references to the value and importance of work — specifically referring to work as a virtue more times than it relates to other virtues, such as prayer, faith, hope, joy, forgiveness, mercy, grace, or peace. Thus, it was and still should be widely recognized that work is good for the soul and necessary for a fulfilling life with dignity and meaning.
The idea of a “Labor Day holiday” was conceived in America in the 1880s by union labor leaders who sought recognition for the accomplishments of American workers. Congress voted to establish Labor Day as a national holiday to celebrate workers’ contributions to national prosperity and well-being. However, as the U.S. laborers’ standard of living rose above those of the rest of the world, the tie between Labor Day and labor unions diminished.
Labor union membership peaked at 26% of the entire American labor force in 1953. Today, the share of workers belonging to unions hovers around 10.5%. What is striking now is that the union membership ratio of government workers—at about 34%—is more than five times higher than the union membership ratio of private-sector workers—at about 6.1%.
Since the government produces little and is heavily unionized, while the private sector is thinly unionized and produces most of the goods and services that people want, it is natural for many to perceive that non-unionized workplaces are more highly correlated to productivity than unionized ones. And just as the private sector economy has moved away from unionization, it is entirely appropriate to recognize the need for a broader perspective and narrative about the meaning of the Labor Day holiday.
While commemorating all who labor, it makes sense to also celebrate the entrepreneurs and the intermediaries who create jobs and new labor opportunities that come out of launching new business ventures. Like the early colonial settlers, these dreamers are often willing to take risks in developing new products, services, and market opportunities. What’s important to understand about Labor Day, past and present, is that these visionaries were the primary drivers of wealth creation that took the country from colonial poverty to world economic superpower in a little more than two hundred years. Some who have recognized this find the Biblical reference of being “the light of the world, a city set on a hill” pertained to America during that period.
We all know that 1776 was the year that “Founding Fathers” gave birth to America with the Declaration of Independence. 1776 was also the year the Scottish Enlightenment philosopher Adam Smith became known as the “Father of Capitalism” when he published The Wealth of Nations. Now a classic, it was at the time the first major work providing a comprehensive understanding of how the essential elements of the free market system — labor, private property, and capital — provide the foundation for entrepreneurs, scientists, inventors, financiers, laborers, and consumers to freely interact for the economic benefit of society, producing results more proficiently than any other system, notably the socialist system.
The central struggle throughout the ages has been between freedom and tyranny. Even before Marx wrote The Communist Manifesto and Das Kapital, Tocqueville asserted, “Democracy and socialism have nothing in common but one word, equality. But notice the difference: while democracy seeks equality in liberty, socialism seeks equality in restraint and servitude.” He added, “You can’t have it both ways. Socialism is a new form of slavery.” Anyone can see across nations and cultures that socialism is associated with diminished prosperity and abuse of power by those in control who waste and steal. In contrast, free enterprise is associated with flourishing and the opportunity to pursue happiness. Socialism not only fails because it misallocates resources and thwarts creativity but also because it discourages and destroys the human spirit.
With corruption running amuck in and around Washington, D.C., it is understandable that the idea of American exceptionalism has become tarnished. Still, no one can deny certain facts about the ways in which America is unique among nations. The United States represents only 4% of the world’s population, but it has produced 96% of the world’s creativity and 25% of the world’s wealth, providing more upward mobility than any other nation. It is little wonder that America remains the number one destination for immigrants.
What is also exceptional is that the United States has had one constitution for 235 years, while the average length of other nations’ constitutions worldwide has been less than twenty years. What accounts for our nation’s longevity, making America truly unique and exceptional, is its Declaration of Independence, which established that citizens have unalienable God-given rights that the state cannot take away. The founding of the United States was an exceptional moment in human history, and because those ideas cannot be canceled or rescinded, our country remains exceptional. Labor Day celebrates American exceptionalism through the work and accomplishments of its diverse, free people.
Scott Powell is a member of the Committee on the Present Danger China and a senior fellow at Discovery Institute. His timeless book, Rediscovering America, was a #1 Amazon new release in history for eight straight weeks.