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May 06, 2004
my life for a paycheck
Why is it we work? Why do we go to school to learn a trade so we can work even better? What do we get out of spending half or more of our lives working to help a company that deems us worthy of that direct deposit every two weeks? Sure, we get "security" (as long as we keep our heads down), we get "health benefits" (determined by what the company can afford), and a weekly injection of cash (so that we can make ends meet). As an employed public, we are nothing but junkies to a cash-starved addiction, living our lives in near-indentured slavery.
We could win on a game show; we could be "discovered" and become famous actors/directors/writers/etc.artists; we could play high-stakes poker professionally. The core problem of the above "options" is that they're all dependant on chance, on a lucky break, where, as Fate has taught us, the instant we look for it, it's gone. These are also methods of making money that are looked down upon by our parents if we were even to mention it to them as kids. But there's still a chance, right?
Wrong. Just because the pot is $120 million this week doesn't mean you're going to have any better odds at it. Just give up.. all you're doing is putting more money in the pot and you'll never see it again.
We're told to be doctors, lawyers, dentists, engineers, anything to get you to that 6 figure salary as quickly as possible, as early as possible. This is where we will get the big bucks, right?
Wrong. The instant you get anywhere near that 6 figure salary, Uncle Sam comes over with a big fat AMT tax bill that will eat your financial ass for dinner.
There has to be a better way.
I don't know about your family, but when I was growing up, my parents hid their finances from me, not wanting me to share their "financial worries" or even to know how much they made. I don't know if it was a matter of shame, or they were trying to protect me from that added stress. Where did that leave me? It left me clueless about money, finances, and how to manage it. I knew so little, or cared so little, that I had collections agencies calling me by the time I was 19. That's embarrassing.
Money is a game, a system you play, if you know what a collection of numbers means. In order to play the game, you have to know how it works. Of course, that points us to learning about accounting, and financial management (which is all incredibly boring).. but consider your options if you don't know the ins and outs of playing the money game.
Money is as vital to our lives as the blood in our veins. Yes, it's a sickening fact, but it's a fact.
And so what do we do? We sell our lives to someone else just so we can keep pace with our incoming expenses, hoping, hoping, that someday, we'll have enough money to put down on a loan for an even bigger debt, I mean a house.
This is not the life I envisioned for myself. This is not how I want to live.
There has to be a better way.
Posted by irena at May 6, 2004 09:40 AM
Comments
Ah, the fav subject. I'll indulge myself with quoting W. Somerset Maugham. The following was said about artists, but it applies to us all, no doubt:
"There is nothing so degrading as the constant anxiety about one's means
of livelihood. I have nothing but contempt for the people who despise
money. They are hypocrites or fools. Money is like a sixth sense without
which you cannot make a complete use of the other five. Without an
adequate income half the possibilities of life are shut off. The only
thing to be careful about is that you do not pay more than a shilling for
the shilling you earn. You will hear people say that poverty is the best
spur to the artist. They have never felt the iron of it in their flesh.
They do not know how mean it makes you. It exposes you to endless
humiliation, it cuts your wings, it eats into your soul like a cancer. It
is not wealth one asks for, but just enough to preserve one's dignity, to
work unhampered, to be generous, frank, and independent. I pity with all
my heart the artist, whether he writes or paints, who is entirely
dependent for subsistence upon his art."
And now I will turn around and try to contradict the master.
No doubt, he keept in mind being independently wealthy as the alternative to earning living with one's art, since that's how he got around himself as far as I remember. For the majority of population it is not an option, though.
The only way out of dull earning one's living I can see is to do exactly what W. S. advises against - make them pay you for practicing your art. The problem is finding what it is!
I completely agree with his opinion on money though. My favorite cinic!
Posted by: Maklai at May 14, 2004 09:41 AM