Family and Work - Making a Difficult Decision Easy…

If I was to select a theme that I believe represents this age, my choice would be need, hands down. Countries of course need a good economy. To have a good economy you need mass production, and for mass production to be useful, you need mass consumption. To be able to consume a lot, you need a lot of money. To have a lot of money, you need to work a lot. In the beginning, years ago, women were not working so when they moved into the work force, households got more money, so they consumed more. So more could be produced, so the economies boomed. And thus we begin the super-fast progress.
Unfortunately, the economies still need to increase and for that more production is needed, thus more consumption, more money and more work is needed. Who is there left to work? Everyone is working! Thus everyone works more. And more. Usually people would not work more than they want or can, but they still do, because they need to. Just like the economy, people now never feel they have enough. To make it even worse, this need is infectious. From media to marketing, many everyday aspects help cultivate and strengthen those feelings. Even though you now have more than last year, it still is not enough and five years later, even though you have way more than now, you will still feel that you do not have enough. It is a vicious curve upwards, and a very steep curve it is. This need is making people work a lot, or make other people work a lot for companies also need more.
Our need is instilled in us well. We are reminded of it during our studies and then we it goes into action when we begin to work. It grows bigger and stronger as we work, make money and consume. Then, some marry. Some of those have children. The need is still there, it has not gone away. This need makes parents still desire to work. Now, some parents get over the need but with difficulty, and do some sacrifices to have some time to remain with their children. Others cannot and use the time to work more instead. Many have no choice, for the standard of living is always increasing and they cannot afford to sacrifice much for their children. The economy is very needy.
We should slow down. For how much longer can we continue to need? There should be a point where we decrease this speedy increase. I am not against the progress and improvement, just not so fast. Society should work to get rid of this need in the future, or at least make it less influential. I am not saying make everyone a hippie, just make it balanced. There should be more work-life balance. That way, there will be more free time in people’s lives. This time can be used for relaxation, taking care of children, cooking et cetera, basically this time will make people healthier, less stressed, thus, when the time to work comes, they will be more efficient.
Currently, due to the need that we all suffer from, most people decide to spend the free time on more work. Sadly, society, backed by the economy, applauds that. We should aim to get rid of that. Once people start to believe that using their free time to not work is a good choice, they will start to spend time with their children. Having free time should not be difficult, and choosing to have free time should not be this hard. In stead of this crazy need, there should be a good balance. One of my favorite lines from somewhere: I want to work to live not live to work.