After reading the back cover's focus on the question "Why do we have to work?", I thought "What kinda of a stupid question is that? We HAVE to work because . . . ." Hmmmm. Stuck for an answer, I decided to read this wisenheimer book just to peruse the author's bio to see exactly what asylum Mr. Gates was currently operating out of. Well, after I read it I realized that these weren't the ravings of a psychotic but the hard won pearls of wisdom of a clear-thinking, compassionate man, fueled with the desire to share with us what a lifetime of living and sweating in this workaday world has taught him. Most of all, the invaluable gift this book provides is perspective. By asking us, "Why do we have to work?," "What is success?," "Why do we need money in the first place?" Mr. Gates allows us to grasp the realities of our situation and then gives us alternative ways to look at these life questions that we all can use in making our career choices. This is not to be underestimated. What Gates has done is akin to throwing a drowning person a life preserver. They say that today's youth are so mired in negativity and cynicism because they harbor no illusions of escaping the tedious, empty lives of their parents. Although not a member of this teenage wasteland, Mr. Gates explains it all in a way that I think would speak to this vast unreachable age group and let them figure out for THEMSELVES how to play within the system but still give their lives their own personal meaning. It also speaks to their parents and shows them how they can break the chains of thought that have tied them down to a life of empty slaving. I think regardless of age, background, or current status there is no one who couldn't benefit from the spark of promise this book ignites. Especially since the only commodity this huge industrialized nation has failed to produce is hope.