POEM: Wage Slave Be Free

I am not a wage slave
I am free
And worth every penny

This week, I celebrated 10 years free from wage !  My ensuing has been a small price to pay for this .  I am the richest person I know.  This short poem is a stab at de-linking our worth from what somebody will pay for our labors.  Also, this poem seeks to de-link the dangerous, though widespread, notion that our quality of is pretty much directly proportional to our .  Both a set of research and my own personal have proven that beyond meeting our basic needs, is very ineffective at increasing our .  At this point, is not much better at improving overall quality of either.  Some may squeak out some extra years, but may very well be less happy.  In my case, I am confident that the last ten years have produced more health in me than the previous ten years as a wage slave.

Some may contend that “slave” is too harsh a term.  This may be true, but I have a poetic license, and I'm not afraid to use it!  However, the constellation of realities for many wage earners is little consolation for the wages they earn.  Having to sell yourself wholesale to another for a wage is a relatively new addition to so-call and in human .  This package deal tends to serve employers and corporate interests more than individual employees.  This is increasingly so.  This millennium has seen virtually all of the gains in , rooted in human , go to the top few percent of the richest Americans.  Corporate has been extremely successful at hogging up all of the gains of labors increasing .  This trajectory is degrading the value of for most people.  Some have simply opted out of the force.  There are fewer people in the American force now than at the beginning of the millennium.  I'm not convinced this is a bad thing.  However, the way it is happening is brutal.  High unemployment across a wider range of categories, including higher skilled , drives down wages for all.  Of course, many lost are replaced with lower paying .  Some people, in some households, have come to the conclusion that they can't afford to work!

For myself, I am less about the than fairness.  I am less about the money than maintaining a free and fulfilling .  I am less about the money than about , consistent with an anti-consumer , to live a that won't contribute to destroying our and planet.  There is more to than money.  This seems like a trite statement.  However, I see many gaping inconsistencies in the way people talk and the way people live.  Such talk is a leading cause of global climate .  Such a walk seems to be producing ever- in our quality of life.  Closing this gap would be better for both people and the planet which sustains us. We can do much better…

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