I’m curious what you think of when you hear the term slavery. I believe many of us in today’s society are slaves without realizing it. We’re slaves to what we own, what we think we should own and what we think others will think of us.
Slavery is not freedom and it’s not happiness. I think the most common form of slavery in today’s world is the wage slave. Before you get offended let me give you a clarification of what a “true wage slave” is.
A true wage slave is someone who has sadly attached their own shackles and thrown out the key. A wage slave is someone who is so deep in consumer debt that at their current income capacity they will never be able to pay of the debts they have accumulated. A wage slave is someone who has maxed out their credit cards to the point of no return. They can go on working their entire lives because they have too; to pay for items and frivilous expenditures that if asked probably couldn’t recount. It’s sad but so many people I know from my day to day travels online and offline are simply slaves to the system for a life they can’t afford and sadly; will now never be able to afford and probably don’t want.
Life is like a marathon financially where ultimately your supposed to save your last store of energy (money) for the home stretch. If you’re deathly behind from the beginning how will you ever make it? Chances are you won’t. Why do so many people chain themselves to a desk forever without a dream of one day doing as they please? Why do people rush to buy the latest designer this and that when they haven’t even paid off their car let alone the other designer threads hanging in the closet or their entire living room and bedroom set from ikea? Why as a society do we need everything NOW!?
How has society gotten to a point where holding $50-100,000+ of consumer debts is acceptable? Is it engineered? Is excessive consumer debt merely a mechanism used to trap lost souls? What would happen if no one was in debt? What would happen if people exclusively bought what they could afford and worked there way up? What would happen if most people didn’t HAVE TO go to work on Monday? What would happen to society if these important parts of the machine weren’t fixed?
Although common hundreds of years ago some would say slavery is dead. Sadly I’d say slavery is more rampant now then it has ever been. From the moment youth turn of age credit cards are pushed and thrown at them from every vendor possible. There is no debt education classes in university but in every hall / cafeteria you can be sure someone will give you a credit card for filling out a few forms. Sadly this is where many people’s voyage on the slippery slope to bondage through debt begins.
Once you have a credit card if you are exposed to mainstream media at all( arent’ we all?) you will be inundated with ideas of what you should purchase. Advertising is huge because for some reason people have a tendency to buy things they can’t afford and then pay back 3-10X the original price in tiny installments. The seed is planted through advertisement; your the soil it’s planted in. Don’t let weeds grow in your garden.
I could go on forever about this but the reality is if you live beyond your means at all in this world eventually it will catch up to you. (Sooner then later). Also something equally sad is that society wants wage slaves. It needs people who sick, ride or die must go to work to keep the wolves away. It’s no way to live but it’s a very real situation for most. How much stress comes with this? Also what part does stress play in many diseases? …
If you are already up to your eyeballs in debt I wish you all the success in the world but this is aimed more at my younger readers who are at that critical point in their lives where the financial decisions they make today will reward them or plague them for the rest of their lives.
In today’s world freedom means the freedom to choose. The freedom to choose what you do with your day, where you spend your money, who you spend your time and money with etc… Don’t over spend and don’t get in debt to the point that you no longer have the freedom to choose. Never do anything that will compromise your ability to be free in this world. There is nothing finer and in my mind no better a pursuit then that of freedom and ultimately hopefully ending in happiness.
Slaves aren’t happy because they are doing something against their will. Heck if you want to die poor and work every day of your life paying triple or more for something you don’t even use; then go for it. If it doesn’t sound good (and it shouldn’t) think about your life, your habits and ultimately your destiny. Avoid temptations and hold your path. One day you’ll be free and a heck of a lot closer to happiness.
Just say no to debt; don’t become another slave!
- Rob
P.S If you have kids; I recommend you read this.
