Why do you work?

[Emerald]

On 1/3/2023 at 9:06 AM, bloomer said:

Why support a society that rewards you with nothing. 

This just isn’t true. Society has given you so much. You just take it for granted. But if you really paid attention, the value that society provides to you is massive.

Think about the food you ate today that you didn’t have to hunt or scavenge for. That’s because farmers, truckers, cooks, and grocery store employees all worked together in an organized way… and now your stomach is full.

without work and a society to organize that work, you’d have to do it all yourself.

And if it were taken from you, you would probably quickly realize just how much you benefit from society.

Now, there’s plenty of problems to be fixed, of course. But to say that society does nothing for you is false.

Now, to answer your original question of why I work.

One reason I work is to support myself and my family.

But I love work because I have to capacity to impact people and society in a positive way. And this potential for positive impact is genuinely exciting and inspiring to me.

[Matt23]

On 1/4/2023 at 4:02 AM, bloomer said:

Why do you work?

How do you deal with work demotivation?

Is working and paying taxes just a scam?

Buy me time and resources so I can live and do things as I wish.  

I've worked many jobs.  I've found which types absolutely do-not work for me and stay clear of those ones (construction, warehouses, anything that doesn't include beauty, being engaged by the work, or relating to people and working with people).  Serving, so far, has been the best and most motivating type of entry-level work I've found so far,  and you can make good money doing it (last summer there was a day I earned $40 an hour with tips).    -- So, if you're super not motivated to do that work, find something else until you hit something that is manageable until you get progress on your life purpose/career etc.

I think "Scam" is a loaded term here.  It's not like there are these goons conniving around a table at your work or in the government seeing how to rip you off.  A large part, I think, is basically that this is the best humanity has to offer in terms of how to manage and deal with billions of people in the most safe, fair, and effective way possible.  Not saying there aren't ways to improve it. 

Work = survival (hunting -> farming -> office work)

Paying taxes = social survival (warlords threatening you with death unless you pay them for protection -> aristocracy giving you a piece of land for service or taxes to throne -> paying taxes for government for protection and other social services.... seems like it used to mostly be about simple protection from other tribes, but now that has evolved into (along with protection; i.e. the army) things like roads, plumbing, governmental assistance, healthcare, education, etc..  

[Jordan]

Work is great. You trade 40 hours a week for food, shelter, safety and freedom to do as you wish with in the rest of your time with some money left over. Having police, free school grade K-12, roads, bridges, firefighters, trains, community centers, busses, an army requires taxes in some form. You need to contribute to get these things in return. Do you see an example of a better culture that does not require people to work?

If you can't stand working where you work then find another job you find more interesting. I found after meditating a lot, I enjoy my work a lot more. I also appreciate money a lot more after working some overtime and know the value of it for me.

Edited February 5, 2023 by Jordan