Essay 4
The American Work-a-holic
	The idea of work is a very vague concept.  The meaning, value, and purpose of work can change depending on the person doing it.  The most common reason people in American work is to make money and provide for their families.  However, some people need to make money so they can buy essentials like food and clothing, others so they can buy things they do not really need like big television sets and cars, and others so they can live lavishly in huge houses they do not need.  As a person’s economical condition changes, their necessity for money will change also.  With the hard earned money they make, a lower class person will not be thinking about buying the same thing as a person who is in the upper class.
	A lower class citizen in America is probably going to be subjected to work their entire lives if they want to sustain life.  In areas where there is a high poverty level, jobs may be scarce or the education level may be low.  In the lower classes, entire families may need to get jobs to support the family, which causes children to not have the time or money to go to college and get an education.  In the eyes of a lower class citizen, work is seen as a necessity.  To have a job, no matter the wages, or the type of work, it is seen as a blessing.  People in the lower classes value their jobs and take great care in what they do because they know that without that job, them and the people they love may be subject to starvation, a cold winter, or lack of the medicine they need.
	A good education, Christmas presents, and family vacations are very important to middle class citizens.  Work is seen as a necessity to sustain a comfortable standard of living.  Middle class citizens generally have the option of work that they enjoy doing.  However, the middle class does not have the option of not working if they want to send their children to college and be able to retire at a decent age.  In some middle class families, only one person is required to work in order to sustain the family’s living style.  Children in middle class families usually start working in their mid-teenage years so they can buy their own clothing, pay for their gas money for their cars, and pay for entertainment.  Unlike the children in the lower class, the middle class child’s money does not go towards the family income.   
	The American upper class citizens are not burdened with the pressures of work and income as much as the lower and middle class citizens are.  The upper class citizens generally need to work to sustain an excessive lifestyle, filled with superfluous things and items that the average person does not need to survive comfortably.  The upper class citizen values the work they do, but it is not a necessity.  They generally work to sustain their lifestyle, because they like what they do, or because they need something to occupy themselves.  
	I consider myself a child of a middle class family.  Both of my parents work, my brothers and sister work now that they are out of college and we all worked while we were in high school.  Both of my parents enjoy their jobs and take pride in what they do.  My parents’ main purpose in working right now is to pay for me to go to college.  They also work to sustain the standard of living that they have built for our family over the past 28 years.  By them working hard, they have given their children the opportunity to have the same lifestyle or better that they currently have.
        Unfortunately, money and the economy are two of the most important factors in the world.   I believe that in America one must work in order to sustain a certain standard of living.  However, the upper, middle, and lower classes described previously are not typical of the entire world.  Other cultures do not value money the way Americans.  For example, African tribes work to preserve their food and shelter.  They may have a form of money but it is not to the extent of American money that they need a bank for it.  Even in European cultures, which are closely related to America and are considered “civilized”, Europeans are not obsessed with money and possessions the way American’s are.  The obsession with the need for money and therefore work, is the downfall of the American culture.