People work because they need money to live. What are some other reasons that people work?
Discuss one or more of these reasons.
The term “work” today is frequently used as the synonym of “employment”. But work is much more inclusive than employment in that work as a form of human activities has a longer history than employment. People in modern industrialized and urbanized society are employed (self-employed included) because they need money to live. But the reasons that people work must be more colorful and enchanting.
What is work? Viewed from the angle of the individual development, work is a means of living. In this sense, hunting, fishing, gathering in the primitive societies are forms of work. In the agricultural societies, work varies in form considerably from pottery making, textiles, metallurgy, and making tools or weapons. Today, work is a kaleidoscope in which the Wall Street, Silicon Valley, and Zhongguancun in China all are typical epitome of the grandiose and imposing panorama of the modern work.
Why do people work? The answer to this question varies from person to person and from place to place. To those who are down and out, to work symbolizes the dignity of a human being. To the people in democratic industrialized societies, having a job is part of their human rights because they firmly believe that every human being has the unalienable rights, among which are life, liberty, and pursuit of happiness. To those who have just finished their studies in universities or colleges, to be able to work is a promise of tomorrow.
People work more because they need a decent, noble, and meaningful way to spend life than because they need the payment. Just as people spend dozen years in schools, so people find a job or more jobs. This is more evident in case of those who are rich enough to live a luxurious life but who are still working as a dog. In fact, to live does not cost much. In the primitive societies, people work after they have sufficient food surplus because they have the ambition to “live better”. They created tools and weapons, manufactured ceramic wares and pottery articles, and fabricated myths and legends and finally the cities and towns not because they need these to live but because they do not know what life is. After industrial revolution in the eighteenth century, work diversified. Immigrants flooded from rural areas to towns and cities with the ambition and aspiration to become decent life earners. Engineers, accountants, CEOs, CFOs, technicians, salespersons, and teachers are distinct different in forms but share the same essence. To work is a way to move forward in the course of life. To work kindles human courage to go forward. Therefore, work in this case bears human incentive to live with which people expect to be “able to hew out of the mountain of despair a stone of hope”. To work or not to work is no longer a matter of money. It is a matter of “to be or not to be” in Shakespeare’s word.
本文由3COME考试频道编辑精心为您收集整理，仅供大家参考，祝您考T顺利。
