Why Do We Have to Work? - a search for understanding, peace of mind, and an alternative measure of success

by Todd Allen Gates

Back in the hunting and gathering days, the answer to the question "Why do we have to work?" was you hunted because you were hungry, skinned animals because you needed clothing, and built a shelter for protection. In today's world the answer is more complicated. "Work" nowadays involves carrying out highly specialized tasks that seem to have no direct link to providing for our survival -- how and why did this happen? "Why Do We Have to Work?" helps make sense of this confusing situation, tracing the common link between the workday of the hunter & gatherer, the farmer, the 1st century pottery maker, the assembly line worker of the 1800s, and today's video game programmers. Also included is an explanation of why we have to use money -- why the complications of bartering force all communities with multiple goods & services to use some sort of "medium of exchange," be it beads or dollar bills. "Why Do We Have to Work?" also questions the wisdom of one of the side repercussions of our modern the assumption that our basis for happiness should come from the wealth, status, and identity we derive from our careers. It presents the alternative guideline that instead aims for a balance of our physical, emotional, mental, and spiritual dimensions.

62 pages, Spiral-bound

Published February 1, 1999