Work, what is it good for?

In the book I'm currently reading, A Patriots History.....the author claims that one of the primary reasons the colony of Jamestown was brought to the brink of failure was the lack of willingness among the people to work. The population of Jamestown was primarily made up of wealthy gentleman who were not accustomed to work and refused to do it because it was beneath them. At one point John Smith implored the London Company (who owned the charter for the colony) to send "30 carpenters, husbandmen, gardeners, fishermen, blacksmiths, masons, and diggers up of trees.... [instead of] a thousand of such as we have." Eventually, Smith imposed martial discipline over the colony and famously proclaimed "he who will not work, will not eat." His efforts succeeded in stabilizing the colony and the rest is history.

Interestingly, several years later this issue of 'work' came up among another group. As we all know, the new freedom in America encouraged a boom of ideas. Religious practices that had not been allowed to flourish in previous societies found outlets in the free air of America. Utopians were free to try out their ideas too. A Utopian is one who believes a society can be created where there is no suffering or hardship. One such group was founded by two men named Robert Dale Owen and Charles Fourier. Their sect, sought to eradicate individualism through education--they valued 'head work' (education) over 'hand work' (physical labor). In fact, they despised physical work(probably because they believed it to be a 'hardship'). Well, needless to say, their sect didn't last very long because no one wanted to work! The group ran out of food and Robert Dale Owens lost millions trying to maintain it.

So, I conclude, based on these two examples (and there are more I'm sure) that in order to fully enjoy the benefits of ideas and opportunity...or just to simply SURVIVE!... one must be willing and able to work.