Work was always unpleasant and undesirable. The concept of "wage slavery" was coined back in ancient Greece (i.e. the people who had to work for a living were

Work was always unpleasant and undesirable. The concept of "wage slavery" was coined back in ancient Greece (i.e. the people who had to work for a living were not considered really free). The Puritanian work ethics, which consider work to be a virtue and something of innate value, are more a weird quirk of some Western countries rather than an universal stance. Basically, through all times and places, most people dreamt of being wealthy, so that their needs would be met and they wouldn't have to work. BTW now this dream is monetized in the form of various national lotteries.