@jd my thoughts on how jobs became so socially important:
1. (hunting & gathering, early farming days) most/all of the population had to work to achieve the basics
2. (industrial revolution) automation of narrow tasks happened, still needed most people to work for to achieve basics plus reasonable comfort
3. (now) industry is capable of doing the basics with comparatively little human labor needed, but the social inertia from stages 1 and 2 keeps everyone on the job treadmill
@jd also, we've structured society on "everyone needs to have a full time (or more) job" for so long, and built so much on top of that principle, we don't know how to change
@jd sorry for the mega-reply, but one last image to illustrate my point (obviously farming isn't the only thing we need to do, but it covers a lot):
@ddipaola @jd also in most "modern" countries religion is less popular, it once had a lot more "holy days" that became modern "holidays" (until the Reformation and then secularisation), but amongst todays more secular societies there isn't a consensus on replacements/equivalents for religious holidays and the "work ethic" has sometimes taken over from actual worship (ironically we are only left with what remains of the religious holidays rather than more free time in general)
@jd
This is propably the major problem of the capitalism. The idea, that there could not be enough work is so horribly wrong!
@jd also, job != meaningful work