Americans have tons of pride in weird things and little to no pride in important things. “Wow, you worked 120 hours this week? You’re a rock star!” compared to “You stay home with the kids? What do you do all day?”
Americans are in love with work. We don’t work to live – we live to work. We boast about our crazy hours, define ourselves based on our occupations, and look down upon others who we feel don’t “work as hard”.
This obsession with work comes at a tremendous cost to most Americans. We are overworked, underpaid, and stressed out with no free time. And the worst part is that we eat this up!
Exercise has been proven to help reduce stress levels, but who has time for that when you are working 80 hours per week just to keep the bills paid? We also eat fast, unhealthy foods, because who has time to cook healthy meals?
It’s turned into this mess because so many Americans don’t have any other options. It’s either give into this abusive work culture or go hungry; break your back working for a company or be homeless. What kind of choice is that?