Daniël Franke Feb 23
When exactly did we start to think that the point of humans was to be productive, instead of thinking that the point of productivity was to take care of humans?
Show threadDoug Wade
@ainmosni if you’re sincerely asking for a date, rather than making a rhetorical point, the earliest I could concretely cite would be Cotton Mather’s 1701 sermon “A Christian At His Calling.”
Feb 24 at 6:48amWeb
Show threadJonne ArjorantaFeb 24

@dougwade @ainmosni I would think that he was influenced by the Reformation. Most factions – but especially Calvinists – started emphasizing labour as a way to prove one's worth in the eyes of God (See e.g. Weber: The Protestant Ethic and the Spirit of Capitalism).

So to answer your rhetorical question: roughly 16th century.