Work ethic

I was reading the interesting post about working in academia (http://evol-eco.blogspot.it/2013/02/academic-ambivalence-why-do-we-want-to.html) that plainted that positions are few, and work is very hard, almost masochistic. But this is not a problem of Academia, it is a problem of America. It was highlighted by Max Weber: ascetic protestantism, the belief that hard work will give yout Heaven, is deeply embodied in the anglo-saxon variety of capitalism. It is a religious belief, it has nothing to do with economic efficiency; in fact Germany has a higher pro-capita productivity than America, notwithstanding the fact that in Germany workers work less and the atmosphere is much more relaxed.