Families today are tied to financial commitments and the choices they have made. Buying a home, luxury cars, and other luxuries has forced people to bear the burden of working harder than they wanted just to pay the bills of their chosen lifestyle. People feel a sense of burden and frustration when it comes to workloads. In Andrew Curry's essay “Why we work”, paragraph 4 states that today more and more women work to afford the luxury of their family. Americans choose to give up leisure in favor of luxury; much more than in the period before the Second World War. Families suffer from heavy self-inflicted workloads. The competition is to blame for restructuring and layoffs. People don't have to drive an $80,000 car and buy a $500,000 house; nor must they remain with the Joneses. People today tend to live beyond their means and as a result both parents have to work. Curry continues to convey that technology has moved from home to work and that we handle work problems at home and home problems at work, all with the touch of a button. Perhaps technology has distorted our boundaries between work and home but it is necessary to manage the workload we subject ourselves to; all at the expense of our families. The economy is already shaky enough; no one wants to be seen as less dedicated to their job at the risk of being let go or fired. How then could one procure the opulent materials? No work means a lower comfort level for people who choose this path so a heavier workload is accepted only to be seen as more productive and invincible; all at the touch of a button. Curry also writes that "many people believe that if they work less they will be seen as less committed, and in a shaky economy no one wants that." Personally... middle of paper... I want to work together to get the things they need to survive. If people could rethink why they work, perhaps they wouldn't get caught up in excessive stress overwork. The job should be something you enjoy and get paid for. Today it is accepted that both parents, spouses, or significant others work to afford the luxuries the world has to offer. If people worked more hours now than they ever have, what would it look like if they doubled the time? People will likely bribe to get jobs or, even worse, kill or do harm for them. In the reality of restructuring and layoffs, competition is created, but perhaps competition is created because more and more people want higher-paying jobs just to afford their luxuries and become victims of overwork. Works Cited Curry, A. (2010). Why we work. In Goshgarian, What Matters in America (pp. 388-394). San Francisco: Pearson.