[jcizzle]

Society is a group of people whose collaborative efforts are able to accomplish more than any one individual and more than simply a sum of individuals. That means 'work', which is another word for 'doing something for someone else'. It is selfish to believe that one can belong to a group of people and obtain the benefits without contributing to it.

[ncallaway]

Why do you get to define what society is? Sure, if you take the definition that "society is the group of people who are working", then you get the conclusion that you are required to work to be in society.

I'm going to present a different definition of society:

> A society is a group of people involved in persistent social interaction, or a large social grouping sharing the same geographical or social territory, typically subject to the same political authority and dominant cultural expectations (Wikipedia https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Society)

> the aggregate of people living together in a more or less ordered community. (Google [https://www.google.com/search?q=definition+of+society&oq=def...)

> an organized group of persons associated together for religious, benevolent, cultural, scientific, political, patriotic, or other purposes. (Dictionary.com http://www.dictionary.com/browse/society?s=t)

It seems the definition that you're providing for "Society" doesn't line up with the common definition of the word. It doesn't mean "work". It can, as the parent comment states, mean "Volunteer" or "Interacting with people socially".

You don't get to exclude people from society by using convenient definitions.

[jcizzle]

Well, you can go make your society where the only thing that matters is that people believe the same thing. And then I'll live in current society, where people put forth an effort to support that society's needs. And then we can figure out which one gets to define society based on which one survives long enough to write down the definition. (Also, wouldn't a society imply exclusion by its very definition?)

[vkou]

A lot of work does little to benefit society. It is a collaborative effort to enrich your employer.

[jcizzle]

That is a viewpoint that ignores the level at which humans, especially in the US, live at. The amount of work and people that goes into having convenient access to food, transportation and clean water is incredible. And those are just basic needs that we take for granted. Your employer creates good and services that people consume, therefore, the work enriches society. If your short-sightedness only extends to the point where you are evaluating who is making the bigger paycheck, I'd say that is a shortcoming of your self-awareness, not of society.

[IanCal]

I think perhaps you're being somewhat broad by defining work as doing anything for anyone else. Or maybe I'm being overly narrow by assuming they mean "have a job" by "work", something paid and typically contractual.

Would you class volunteering your time as work? How about developing open source software, or writing interesting short stories for fun? Painting? Being a parent? If you help a friend move house do you say you're "going to work"?

If you include everything that provides some value as "work" then sure. But I feel that there are a huge range of things that provide value to society that may not be paid for or done as a typical job.