Good day, World.
One of the fundamental facets of Western civilization is ravenous, unchecked capitalism. Every major company in the US seems to lobby for less restrictions and oversight so that their companies can get away with an increasing amount of injustices towards their workers, the environment, and even their consumers. Politicians, ever in bed with these industries, receive money to roll back any regulations regarding the planet or their workers that do get put into place, with some directly benefiting from doing so in their own private businesses. Even the prison industrial complex directly feeds into this capitalist agenda, using prisoners as slaves for companies to contract out and make even more profit by cutting their labor costs. Businesses fight to keep minimum wage at poverty level in whatever states they operate in, with the ones that successfully attain higher mandatory pay being slandered by politicians and pundits as liberal trash states that should be seen as outliers, not examples. In all, Western "civilization" prioritizes the rich and their brands as more important than people, with even the government slashing at social programs while simultaneously bolstering their own pockets and their precious military machine.
The entrenchment of belief in the almighty dollar over everything is further sewn into the fabric of our existence by the ruling class. Constantly the rich chase us for our funds, minimizing our pay on one end while maximizing cost on the other. Rent continues to spiral upwards in any place there is work to be had, hyperinflating the cost of living just because the landowner knows they can get away with it. Landlords charge triple the rent just to get into a place, referring to "refundable security deposits" while finding every excuse not to pay them back when the time comes. Meanwhile, managers and owners of companies are finding ways to pay their workers less every day, cycling schedules to avoid paying overtime, offering pittances to make them thousands of dollars every day, and holding back checks for up to 3 weeks at the beginning just to be sure you're desperate enough continue working for next to nothing. As a working class person, this was my reality every day for a very long time, and for most it will be for the rest of their lives.
Another one of the side effects of being crammed into this system is that it grants you no time to think, your mind constantly flooded with the objectives of your master, the Corporation. When you do have time off, the only things you think of are either escaping the mental space your job puts you in or the indignities and crushing weight of the job you will be returning to. The concept of hating Mondays and loving Fridays is rooted in a culture based around working menial jobs that traditionally only give weekends off. People tend to develop unhealthy coping mechanisms for said jobs, with the most common blue collar drug being alcohol and the whole culture revolving around "heading to the bar" after work is done just to cope with the stress of working. Even the depression, stress, and anger of the working man is monetized, with alcohol, cigarette, and porn companies pandering to the proletariat in order to be their comfort. "Drink, smoke, masturbate! Dull the pain! Do anything but think of a way out of this!"
The curators of Western culture do not want the people to be independent. Yes, companies and politicians bandy around the words "freedom," "independence," and the like, but these are token gestures to convince you that their pathway is the only way to achieve said freedom. Meanwhile, everything in America is hyperregulated, taxed, numbered, under surveillance, tracked, and accounted for, with any real attempts by the people to be free shut down or ostracized by the same culture that claims to be the only one worth believing in. Are you making money without reporting every cent to the government? Jail for you. Did you build something on your own land without telling them? Either be fined or tear it down. Did you get into a fistfight because someone wronged you? To jail you go. Are you a minority with a firearm that dared use it in self-defense? Say goodbye to your weapon and your life. Their version of what it means to be free is simply having the freedom to give them all of your money in one way or another, and the rich will have it no matter what.
I am a working class person, but I am committed to removing my cog from the machine. I am still young in a sense, as I have more than half of my life ahead of me statistically, so I have time to continue working toward my newest goal. You see, I have found one honest way to work within the confines of the structure we have been born into while still making money. Not everyone has this option, but because of certain life decisions I have made, I am figuring how to escape the tyranny of this cycle. Simply put, I work for myself now, and while the safety of a regular paycheck is not guaranteed as working for a company is, the freedom regarding my daily time that I now possess allows me to figure out what my next step should be. Does this make me guilty of being a cog still? Yes, but I spin more freely than I did when I was just someone working for someone else, giving all my time and effort to a company that believes I only deserve $12-15/hr. while someone else who does less work than I rakes in thousands of dollars a day behind my efforts. Now, at least, I can set my price as opposed to being auctioned off like the slaves they want us all to be.
Have a good day, World.
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