Now I do yes. But I have had the opportunity not to work hard for a while, but I had tricked myself into it. It was a default for me, the only reality. And that is the problem of our society. We work hard not only to meet our basic needs, but for all the other reasons I listed in my piece.

I spent time with monks and nuns over the winter break. They don’t have much. In fact it is one of the secrets of their happiness, not having much.

The question is, do we need a lot to be happy? No.

Do we 8think* we need a lot to be happy? Yes.

Does thinking that justify and lead to hard work? Yes.