There is a saying about seniority type systems that goes: The longer you live with the seniority system, the more you grow to like it. I think it applies somewhat here in that you are more likely to believe that effort always yields rewards if you were were always rewarded for your efforts.

I think by demographics, your father was likely in a generation that was much more often in a position to be consistently rewarded for their efforts. The generation that was at certain ages in the Great depression, or the dotcom crash, and more recently the Great Recession has a different formative experience than experiences in the Baby boom generation.