I am not a wage slave
I am free
And worth every penny
This week, I celebrated 10 years free from wage slavery! My ensuing poverty has been a small price to pay for this freedom. 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 life is pretty much directly proportional to our income. Both a rich set of research and my own personal experience have proven that beyond meeting our basic needs, money is very ineffective at increasing our happiness. At this point, money is not much better at improving overall quality of life 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 Western civilization and in human history. 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 productivity, rooted in human labor, go to the top few percent of the richest Americans. Corporate power has been extremely successful at hogging up all of the economic gains of labors increasing productivity. This trajectory is degrading the value of work for most people. Some have simply opted out of the work force. There are fewer people in the American work 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 job categories, including higher skilled jobs, drives down wages for all. Of course, many jobs lost are replaced with lower paying jobs. Some people, in some households, have come to the conclusion that they can’t afford to work!
For myself, I am less about the money than fairness. I am less about the money than maintaining a free and fulfilling lifestyle. I am less about the money than about living simply, consistent with an anti-consumer lifestyle, to live a sustainable lifestyle that won’t contribute to destroying our environment and planet. There is more to life 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 change. Such a walk seems to be producing ever-diminishing returns 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…
