My four siblings and I, all agree that my oldest brother was literally worked to death. His kids also think so as well. He worked hard, made lots of money for his employers and they kept screwing him over, over and over again. They literally used him up and discarded him.

@snytiger6 Sorry to hear that about your brother, and in the past had dealt with a similar situation myself. At times I've wondered why some people just put up with that sort of thing? On my first job, we got worked into the ground (figuratively, not literally) and didn't get paid alot, yet I made it clear to my boss that there's only so much work I could do in a day's time, and if that's not good enough then fire me and find someone else. Needless to say I never did get fired, and shortly after received a few pay raises, and that was because I spoke up and made it clear that I wasn't afraid to get fired and did not need them in order to survive (even though in reality I kinda did really need the job).

Not saying your OP was incorrect by the way, and I'm sure that sort of thing has indeed happened to a number of people through the years. Was only saying that something eventually will put us all in the grave. Equally so, over the years I've known people who had life far easier and hard working was hardly their thing, and they still ended up dying young regardless. On the other hand, I've also known people who were workaholics, and are long retired and still alive and kicking into older age. Depends on the individual I guess.

@SpikeTalon My brother worked for Alpha Beta, a grocery store chain in southern California. He was passed over several times for manager, despite his have always dome well. Finally, they promoted him to manage a store which hadn't made a profit in almost 20 years. It was basically a "screw you", where they set him up to fail. Well, within a year he turned the store around to where it did make a profit. Now a manager's year end bonus is based on the store's profit, so he got a bonus that year. However, the people at the corporate offices decided that now that the store was profitable, they'd put in one of their friends as manager and told my brother he could either go back to beign an assistant manager or he could quit. He quit, because they were screwing him over for doing a good job.

He ended up working for Frito-Lay, a company owned by Pepsi-Co. Drivers are on commission, and how much they make is based in sales. My brother kept building up the sales on his route, and they kept cutting his territory and giving it to other drivers. This happened over and over again. Then they cut the percentage of sales commissions. He worked 12-16 hour days to make ends meet. He never got enough rest, as he made a point to be there for his kids as much as he could.

At times in addition to driving his route for Frito-Lay, he'd often pick up part time work elsewhere, because they kept cutting his route(s) and then his commissions.

He was a good hark working man, and he just got screwed over, over and over again for his entire life. Near the end of his life, he started to have a series of "mini-strokes", meaning small blood vessels to his brain were clogged and his brain wasn't getting enough blood. First he lost his ability to communicate, first not always being able to find the right word, then eventually lost his ability to speak altogether, and in the end it developed into "early onset dementia".

What he experienced in his work life, all the stress and pressures, and the constantly beign screwed over, and having to take on extra jobs in order to make ends meet, is I believe, what really killed him. Having to work the way he did, he didnt' have time to eat healthy or get any kind of (enjoyable/recreational) exercise.

I believe Corporations, which put profits before people, killed him. They literally worked him into the ground, used him up and discarded him when he was no longer useful to him.

Sadly, how my brother was treated is the story of at least half, if not more, of American workers. It isn't how well you do your job, but how well you are willing to kiss ass that determines whether or not you get ahead in U.S. corporate life. Thus, often the most competent people are passed over, screwed over and left behind in drudgery, and in my brother's case an early death.

@snytiger6 I think that largely depends upon which organization one works for, and even the state one lives in could make a difference. Your brother had lived in California, and over the years I've heard that state is not a pleasant one to live in, and suspect certain laws in that state have and continue to contribute to their citizen's requiring to earn a great deal of money per year in order to afford to live in California. I can't speak for other states as I only dwell within one, but here in Pennsylvania most large corporations don't take advantage of their employees like that. Only exception I could think of off the top of my head would be Amazon, they are known to exploit their employees. Oddly enough, my own father died prematurely not because the company he worked for had worked him into the ground, but rather due to a lack of basic action on the part of the union he had belonged to, but that one is a long story.

When running a private organization, a balance needs to be struck between earning decent profits and making sure everyone (workers that is) is content and safe on the job. Where there's an imbalance somewhere, say a company fixating on generating more profits while ignoring worker safety, that becomes a problem. Some large corporations are certainly guilty of such behaviors, but not all, and think living in certain states is worse than others regarding such problems like that. I would never want to live in California, based on some of what I've heard over the years, and sounds like an expensive state to live in, which is somewhat curious given how progressive that state is supposed to be. Thank you for taking the time to share that story, and sounds like your brother was indeed literally worked into the ground.

@SpikeTalon I also lived in California up until 2010. It can actually be a pleasant place to live. However, I moved because I saw climate changes would be making a difference in the Los Angeles area, as they import 80% of their water, and I knew water would eventually be becoming scarce there.

As far as employment goes, many other states, mostly red states, have far worse working conditions where corporations treat employees even worse than what my brother experienced.

I don't blame the region where he lived, so much as I blame the corporate culture of always placing profits above all other considerations, including the well being of employees.