The American ruling class historically shared a vocation of work with workers

Evidence

It will show that in general divorce is particularly frequent among the upper classes. This demonstrates the moral gap in the United States between the working masses and the ever more numerous elements of the ruling classes. This moral gap seems to me one of the most interesting phenomena and one which is most rich in consequences. Until recently the American people was a working people. The “vocation of work” was not a trait inherent only in the working class but it was a specific quality of the ruling classes as well. The fact that a millionaire continued to be practically active until forced to retire by age or illness and that his activity occupied a very considerable part of his day, is a typically American phenomenon. This, for the average European, is the weirdest American extravagance. — Antonio Gramsci, Selections from the Prison Notebooks, 1126

Categorization

• XREF: Contrasts with European aristocratic leisure-class norms; feeds the reader’s toolkit on hegemonic class formation and how the ruling class legitimates itself through shared values. — connects to: The American absence of shame at paid work perpetuates economic injustice — Theodor W. Adorno, Minima Moralia: Reflections from…, 217; US unions traded bargaining power for collaboration with Fordist production — David Harvey, The Condition of Postmodernity: An…, 798; Funded pensions create cross-class alliances between workers and owners — Natascha van der Zwan, Making Sense of Financialization, 103 (+3 more)
• corroborated: 2 independent passages support this claim — Antonio Gramsci, Selections from the Prison Notebooks, 1126