Reply #2: isn't it funny that the required "work ethic" of Americans seems to be

[sui generis]

established by the employers of Americans, and not Americans themselves?

The "work ethic" of Europeans for the most part includes a balance between personal and work life.

What is the litmus test? Say we suddenly say the base salary work week in the U.S. is 35 hours a week instead of 40, how many employees do you think would protest?

Say we demand that our employees with over 3 years at a company get 30 days off a year (2 weeks plus holidays), I'll bet you there aren't a lot of "work ethic" American workers that would protest that.

Salaried jobs that require a "minimum" of 60 hours of work a week are like only earning 2/3rds of a 40 hour a week salary, relatively speaking. If you are putting in 1 and a half hours for every hour of salary you earn you've diluted your income by a third at the cost of your family and personal life.

If we want to level income and worker utilization, eliminate salary as legal compensation. Pay everyone hourly.