Why i enjoy working and why you dont

After perusing and contributing to another current thread of this nature i feel compelled to write this.

Why is work so bad? I have a job and while it is not my "ideal" job, I work and make my money and enjoy the fruits of my labour. Im Canadian and make roughly $36,000 a year. Not much by most standards, but i have no secondary education, so i make the best of it. That being said, by carefully watching my expenditures, not putting myself into debt (with the exception of my home mortgage, unfortunately i had no choice there), not spending friviolously on things i dont need, and looking for deals wherever and whenever possible, ive managed to aquire what i think is a good life.

I have a modest home, small by most standards yet comfortable and cheap on heating bills. I have two cars, a winter and a summer car, and still manage to put enough in the bank for a nice little vacation each year. I spend less on my mortgage and electricity bills than most people in small apartments would. I have a wife and a beautiful daughter i love very much.

Now im going to tell you a little story. Before i met my wife i had a close friend move in with me to help "shoulder" the burden of bills and mortgage. He paid half of everything which was by all means a bargain. His apartment he rented before cost him well over twice what he paid living with me.

Everyday he would come home from working a job that paid him almost twice what i make and would sit down on the couch next to me and proceed to rage for hours against how unfair his job was, how his bosses were out to get him, how he didnt make enough money and generally how difficult life was. This went on for several years until i could no longer take his daily rants. I told him he needed to take control of his own life and make a change, as his job was obviously making him sick with stress. He would answer that it was just simply "not that easy", and would continue his rants. His job is highly sought after, and ive met others doing the exact same job for the same company who love their jobs. Point being, nothing makes him happy. He feels the need to complain about his job, yet feels no need to either improve himself or find somthing else. This is all too common these days.

Life isnt easy. No one has ever told us that things would be a cakewalk. I have grown so sick and tired of everyone blaming everyone else, especially the government for what they have in their own power to do. Dont like your job? Educate yourself and get a better one. Cant afford to educate yourself? Get a second job and save. Pissed off the banks forclosed on your mortgage? Dont take mortgages you cant possibly afford from a bank that obviously has its own best interests at heart. The minute the economy goes south or you lose your job, you will lose your house. Is this unfair? Of course not. YOU signed a contract saying you will make your payments. You would not sell someone a car then shrug and say "Hey! Thats life!" when they stop paying you.

These may not be easy things to do, but people need to start taking responsibility for themselves. Its so easy for people to point their fingers at the government, TPTB, Israel, or whoever your favorite boogyman of the moment may be. The government needs work and yes, there is corruption going on, but is this the main root cause of you working a job at McDonalds? Obviously not.

Have you ever done of of the following?

- Envied your neighbour because he or she drives a BMW and you dont?
- Spent well beyond your means and then had to struggle to right your finances?
- Maxed your Visa, only to get a Mastercard to pay it off?
- Accepted a mortgage knowing full well you can barely make the payments, not allowing for a downturn in the economy or a loss of work?

Many people talk of wanting to "live off the land". With no real thought about what that would entail. Before the days of fertilizer, government farm subsidies and more, sustinance farmers often went through period of drought and worse. If you want to live off the land and not pay your taxes, please dont expect the government to bail you out when you are going hungry. Dont expect running water, sewage. When your daughter is raped or you are wronged otherwise dont expect police protection. If a foreign power invades, dont expect the army to help. Taxes pay their wages. In Canada, we have free health care, but again our taxes pay for it. Dont come to the hospital when your wife is pregnant or you need medical care.

I agree, it would be nice to perhaps live off the land, roll time back and live in a simpler way. I dont think people were any less happy in those days. However, one thing we are is more comfortable and people these days have much more free time, at least in Western cultures, than ever before. Strangely enough though, this seems to be the one thing people complain about the most. We have evenings, weekend, and a minimum of 2 weeks off every year to do what we want, and yet it is still not enough. Back in the middle ages, people could expect to work all through their waking day, with the hope that one day their lord might declare a holiday.

Do i wish i made more money? Yes. Do i wish i had a better car, more vacation time, more everything? Yes. But i make the best of what i have and I am truely happy in this life. I pity those that are not.

reply to post by nightbringr

S+F
I say it nearly everry thread and it is ignored, insulted, rebuffed.
Personal responsibility.

I like providing a safe, clean, healthy environment for my wife and son. So I work. I don't own cool toys or neat gizmos, but when I tuck my boy in at night, he is warm, well fed, and safe.

For that feeling alone, I'd work 3 jobs if needed.

Have you ever done of of the following?

- Envied your neighbour because he or she drives a BMW and you dont?
- Spent well beyond your means and then had to struggle to right your finances?
- Maxed your Visa, only to get a Mastercard to pay it off?
- Accepted a mortgage knowing full well you can barely make the payments, not allowing for a downturn in the economy or a loss of work?

reply to post by nightbringr


Would you include in the list above:

-Spending rent money on hookers?
-Gambling cash money on back alley dice games?
-Maxed out your own high interest credit card at an "exotic dance club"?
-Using company expense account cards for lap dances at the aforementioned "exotic dance club"?
-"Borrowing" your neighbors house and pool for a large debauched party when the family was out of town on vacation?
-Pawning your neighbors garden and power tools in order to have a nice weekend at the beach?
-Taking out a third home equity loan on your own house in order to fund an increasingly immoral and debauched lifestyle?

If so, then I have to admit, I am guilty as charged.

Could you please loan me some money? Just a few bucks?

I hate what life has become. It the race to see who can get th better stuff and that means we need more money. I don't hate working but I physically cant take work, let it be i'm over weight or that i broke my back over a year ago or perhaps thats i'm a full time student, i still work every weekend, in fact i haven't had a weekend off in over 2 years, and i never make an excuse that "oh i can work because i am in pain" or "oh theres no jobs out there" when there is. It is the lack of the desire to actually want to earn money. Its irresponsible especially at such a young age to NOT work. (by young im talking about 18-20s, the prime working years.)

It's the people who complain they need a job and need money that never go out and get a job. I know this first hand because I know people like this. My generation is lazy, we are highly materialistic, we demand more for less. The worse part is even with no money we still go out and buy stuff to just have it, but also we seem to be living off the "system" too much, well at least in NY anyway where everyone gets more benefits for being unemployed.

Well before I rant this thread off road In all honesty my generation, the one i'm stereotypically put into, needs to shape up or face the consequences. Also my first post ever on this site. seemed relevant. haha

reply to post by nightbringr


Agreed, there is nothing wrong at all with work and good hard work either.
What is wrong is with people getting stressed over what will become of them if they do not make top dollar for the boss.
The most i ever worried about in my life was, "gee i hope i keep my feet dry".
Jobs come and jobs go, carreers too, but when all comes down to the brass tacks, i was looking for a job when i found this one.
But mostly i now hate work as i am broken and retired.
I did my part, raised 6 kids and well too, they always had the newest gadgets and shoes to awe their friends.
Now it's my turn.
So you go on loving work, and ima go on lovin bein a retired bum!

reply to post by g146541


Enjoy your retirement my friend, it sounds like you earned it!

I agree, a lot of it is the "I need better things than my neighbour mentality, and I guess I'm lucky because I've never had that. I'm just not terribly materialistic. People need to step back and see what is really important in this life. Is it possessions?

Good attitude, especially for someone of modest means. Many in your position would be clainming life had done them wrong. I wish you the best. S&F

it is a strange set of circumstances that we have been born into in this world. i cannot say that i agree with much of the current modes of living, but i am nevertheless compelled to participate.

for example: i never chose to be American. most people consider this nationality to be a benefit. i do not. but unfortunately, i do not have a realistic choice in the matter, so i must play.

in reality (the real reality, perhaps?), every individual in the world has an equal birthright to the worlds resources. simply because you arrived here (on this planet) first does not mean that you have rights to a controlling share of the resources.

so, given that, i would happily take up my birthright and toil it into productivity, to trade as i see fit, etc.

but, instead, the opposite is true: my birthright is stripped and i am forced into submission of rules that i never agreed to and, in the process, am disconnected completely from any value i might create in this world. in this way, the act of working, although a fact of life, becomes an unnatural bastardization of its ideal (abstract) state.


simply put: if i were given the opportunity to succeed in this life, i would. but i am not. this system is built with a foundation of failure. success should be the root.

reply to post by nightbringr


There is a peace in hard work if you are working for the right reasons.

sandf.

maybe when enough people who got caught up in the 'more,more and now' ripple finally get through the withdrawl symptoms they may appreciate lifes bounty without a credit card in hand.

credit card free since 1986.

regards f

I'm pretty sure we have arms, legs, hands and feet for something.

I envy your positivity and appreciate the pity, thanks.

Some people, myself included, will never be happy slaving away while so many of our fellow citizens do refuse to take responsibility for their own lives. Or while the rules of the game change constantly.

I am childless however, and it's clear to me that, from the experiences of my friends, once you have brought a life into this world, your priorities and attitudes change. And that's why you are happy working.

Make the best of it indeed.

reply to post by tgidkp


I understand where you are coming from, but again you are placing all the blame on powers beyond your control instead of making the best of things.

You live in the USA. This means you have opportunity. Bill Gates came from very modest means and yet is now one of the richest people in the world. Well, on record at least. Its called ambition, somthing im am seeing less and less of as the generations pass and the sense of entitlement takes hold more and more.

So, instead of making your lot in life better you blame those who came before you and "give up". I refuse to and im going to make the most of this life and everything it has to offer. It doesnt have to be served to me on a silver platter.

I reserve my respect for those who take matters into their own hands and dont expect the government to make their lives easier. I dont want the government inferfering in my life any more than they have to.

The foundation is not built upon failure. YOU make your own foundation, if you chose to fail, thats your own shortcoming, dont blame it on the government.

Originally posted by DSSONE
I envy your positivity and appreciate the pity, thanks.

Some people, myself included, will never be happy slaving away while so many of our fellow citizens do refuse to take responsibility for their own lives. Or while the rules of the game change constantly.

I am childless however, and it's clear to me that, from the experiences of my friends, once you have brought a life into this world, your priorities and attitudes change. And that's why you are happy working.

Make the best of it indeed.

Wrong. Ive always had this attitude. I dont see myself as "slaving" to make others rich. I see it as working an honest job to make myself happy. My child had nothing to do with it. And i dont buy into the materialistic "more is better" trap. I dont need a Hummer and $300,000 a year to be happy.

Thats the difference between me and you. I take responsibility for my own happiness.

I believe this is a response to the "un-natural working" thread. I didn't take part in his thread but I agreed with the OP.

You are right, but you are forgetting something. Some people WANT that type of lifestyle and would love it. It's not about imagining anything. People who wouldn't mind going out off of the land aren't scared of death. The world is dangerous, yes. And while there are many things that are helpful in today's modern society, there is something that doesn't feel right inside of some people.

I love nature, I don't mind working hard for my survival. Why? Well many others may have their own different reasons, mine is that I am a peaceful person. Given, I don't know it all. And while I have a resource I'd use it for example, I made a thread asking how to treat venoms if I were to be bitten in the wild. If I was bitten by something without that information, I'd be dead. So? It's life. We all die. Don't fear death, it's a tool in order to control you, Don't be scared to work hard even if you don't have to, it makes you a better and stronger person as a whole.

The environment of nature gives me a serene feeling.. one that many can't comprehend. To live in beautiful outskirts that you could call your home. Personally I'd prefer a mountain side near a waterfall. Some people just love that type of thing, it's nothing you can really do about it. We don't care about how hard we have to work or what kind of death we will die, only what kind of life we'd like to live.

reply to post by Mizzijr


I dont see the problem, Mizzjir. Go out and live that life. You are again doing what im talking about, and complaining about it rather than doing somthing about it to live life as you would.

If i truely wanted to live off the land as you obviously do, i would work 2 jobs as long as i had to, save and save and save, then move somewhere that would allow me to live the life i wanted. Its in your reach.

And so what if people want to live the life of 50 cars and 10 homes? Does that mean they should be angry they dont have it? I want those things too, but ill be damned if im going to be miserable the rest of my life because i dont have them.

reply to post by nightbringr


I don't work to make corrupt men rich, I work to provide an environment of potential for the greatest people in the world...my family.

...making corrupt men rich is just a bonus!!!

reply to post by nightbringr


wow... you should really come meet some of the bankruptcy clients i interview everyday... i think you might whistle a little different tune... actually, i know you would...

reply to post by nightbringr


Fair play to you. I hope you didn't think I was being nasty or rude to you. Most people I know are like you, in that they work, and, for want of a better expression, "put up and shut up" - they certainly have little sympathy for the views I hold. You are taking responsibility for yourself and your family, and all credit to you.

reply to post by JudgedCover


Then explain to me why i would change my tune. Im anxious to hear your reasoning and i will give you mine.

When i bought my house i spent far less then i knew i could afford. Why? Because i know nothing in this life is guaranteed and if the economy tanks or i lost my job i would still be able to squeek by until things improved.