{"id":1467,"date":"2014-04-11T11:12:53","date_gmt":"2014-04-11T16:12:53","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/toppun.com\/blog\/?p=1467"},"modified":"2014-04-11T11:12:53","modified_gmt":"2014-04-11T16:12:53","slug":"poem-wage-slave-free","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/toppun.com\/blog\/2014\/04\/11\/poem-wage-slave-free\/","title":{"rendered":"POEM: Wage Slave Be Free"},"content":{"rendered":"

I am not a wage slave<\/span>
\nI am free<\/span>
\nAnd worth every penny<\/span><\/p>\n

This week, I celebrated 10 years free from wage slavery!\u00a0 My ensuing poverty has been a small price to pay for this freedom.\u00a0 I am the richest person I know.\u00a0 This short poem is a stab at de-linking our worth from what somebody will pay for our labors.\u00a0 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.\u00a0 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.\u00a0 At this point, money is not much better at improving overall quality of life either.\u00a0 Some may squeak out some extra years, but may very well be less happy.\u00a0 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.<\/p>\n

Some may contend that “slave” is too harsh a term.\u00a0 This may be true, but I have a poetic license, and I’m not afraid to use it!\u00a0 However, the constellation of realities for many wage earners is little consolation for the wages they earn.\u00a0 Having to sell yourself wholesale to another for a wage is a relatively new addition to so-call Western civilization and in human history.\u00a0 This package deal tends to serve employers and corporate interests more than individual employees.\u00a0 This is increasingly so.\u00a0 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.\u00a0 Corporate power has been extremely successful at hogging up all of the economic gains of labors increasing productivity.\u00a0 This trajectory is degrading the value of work for most people.\u00a0 Some have simply opted out of the work force.\u00a0 There are fewer people in the American work force now than at the beginning of the millennium.\u00a0 I’m not convinced this is a bad thing.\u00a0 However, the way it is happening is brutal.\u00a0 High unemployment across a wider range of job categories, including higher skilled jobs, drives down wages for all.\u00a0 Of course, many jobs lost are replaced with lower paying jobs.\u00a0 Some people, in some households, have come to the conclusion that they can’t afford to work!<\/p>\n

For myself, I am less about the money than fairness.\u00a0 I am less about the money than maintaining a free and fulfilling lifestyle.\u00a0 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.\u00a0 There is more to life than money.\u00a0 This seems like a trite statement.\u00a0 However, I see many gaping inconsistencies in the way people talk and the way people live.\u00a0 Such talk is a leading cause of global climate change.\u00a0 Such a walk seems to be producing ever-diminishing returns in our quality of life.\u00a0 Closing this gap would be better for both people and the planet which sustains us. We can do much better…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

I am not a wage slave I am free And worth every penny This week, I celebrated 10 years free from wage slavery!\u00a0 My ensuing poverty has been a small price to pay for this freedom.\u00a0 I am the richest … Continue reading →<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[32,42,9,15],"tags":[563,397,130,280,577,582,481,428,115,80,559,282,493,200,220,359,625,169,66,658,94,112,110,526,106,53,521,470,515,85,380],"class_list":["post-1467","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-about-top-pun","category-health","category-poems","category-political-and-philosophical-musings","tag-america","tag-change","tag-climate-change","tag-diminishing-returns","tag-economic","tag-employment","tag-environment","tag-experience","tag-freedom","tag-happiness","tag-history","tag-income","tag-job","tag-jobs","tag-labor","tag-life","tag-lifestyle","tag-living-simply","tag-money","tag-poems","tag-poetry","tag-poverty","tag-power","tag-productivity","tag-rich","tag-short-poems","tag-slavery","tag-success","tag-sustainable","tag-western-civilization","tag-work"],"yoast_head":"\nPOEM: Wage Slave Be Free | About Top Pun, Health, Poems, Political and Philosophical Musings | Top Pun's Poetry, Funny Puns, Free Posters, Public Health Radio Show! %<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"POEM: Wage Slave Be Free, About Top Pun, Health, Poems, Political and Philosophical Musings, America, Change, Climate Change, Diminishing Returns, Economic, Employment, Environment, Experience, Freedom, Happiness, History, Income, Job, Jobs, Labor, Life, Lifestyle, Living Simply, Money, Poems, Poetry, Poverty, Power, Productivity, Rich, Short Poems, Slavery, Success, Sustainable, Western Civilization, Work Top Pun's Poetry, Funny Puns, Free Posters, Public Health Radio Show! %\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/toppun.com\/blog\/2014\/04\/11\/poem-wage-slave-free\/\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"3 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\\\/\\\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/toppun.com\\\/blog\\\/2014\\\/04\\\/11\\\/poem-wage-slave-free\\\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/toppun.com\\\/blog\\\/2014\\\/04\\\/11\\\/poem-wage-slave-free\\\/\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"\",\"@id\":\"\"},\"headline\":\"POEM: Wage Slave Be Free\",\"datePublished\":\"2014-04-11T16:12:53+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/toppun.com\\\/blog\\\/2014\\\/04\\\/11\\\/poem-wage-slave-free\\\/\"},\"wordCount\":526,\"commentCount\":0,\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/toppun.com\\\/blog\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/23524eae4bc27be85d1cdc01bc6d380e\"},\"keywords\":[\"America\",\"Change\",\"Climate Change\",\"Diminishing Returns\",\"Economic\",\"Employment\",\"Environment\",\"Experience\",\"Freedom\",\"Happiness\",\"History\",\"Income\",\"Job\",\"Jobs\",\"Labor\",\"Life\",\"Lifestyle\",\"Living Simply\",\"Money\",\"Poems\",\"Poetry\",\"Poverty\",\"Power\",\"Productivity\",\"Rich\",\"Short Poems\",\"Slavery\",\"Success\",\"Sustainable\",\"Western Civilization\",\"Work\"],\"articleSection\":[\"About Top Pun\",\"Health\",\"Poems\",\"Political and Philosophical Musings\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/toppun.com\\\/blog\\\/2014\\\/04\\\/11\\\/poem-wage-slave-free\\\/#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/toppun.com\\\/blog\\\/2014\\\/04\\\/11\\\/poem-wage-slave-free\\\/\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/toppun.com\\\/blog\\\/2014\\\/04\\\/11\\\/poem-wage-slave-free\\\/\",\"name\":\"POEM: Wage Slave Be Free | About Top Pun, Health, Poems, Political and Philosophical Musings | Top Pun's Poetry, Funny Puns, Free Posters, Public Health Radio Show! %\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/toppun.com\\\/blog\\\/#website\"},\"datePublished\":\"2014-04-11T16:12:53+00:00\",\"description\":\"POEM: Wage Slave Be Free, About Top Pun, Health, Poems, Political and Philosophical Musings, America, Change, Climate Change, Diminishing Returns, Economic, Employment, Environment, Experience, Freedom, Happiness, History, Income, Job, Jobs, Labor, Life, Lifestyle, Living Simply, Money, Poems, Poetry, Poverty, Power, Productivity, Rich, Short Poems, Slavery, Success, Sustainable, Western Civilization, Work Top Pun's Poetry, Funny Puns, Free Posters, Public Health Radio Show! %\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/toppun.com\\\/blog\\\/2014\\\/04\\\/11\\\/poem-wage-slave-free\\\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/toppun.com\\\/blog\\\/2014\\\/04\\\/11\\\/poem-wage-slave-free\\\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/toppun.com\\\/blog\\\/2014\\\/04\\\/11\\\/poem-wage-slave-free\\\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Blog HOME\",\"item\":\"https:\\\/\\\/toppun.com\\\/blog\\\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"About Top Pun\",\"item\":\"https:\\\/\\\/toppun.com\\\/blog\\\/category\\\/about-top-pun\\\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":3,\"name\":\"POEM: Wage Slave Be Free\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/toppun.com\\\/blog\\\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/toppun.com\\\/blog\\\/\",\"name\":\"Top Pun's Poetry, Funny Political Puns, Free Posters, Public Health Radio Show!\",\"description\":\"Top Pun's Pun-filled Stuff, Satire, and Public Health Science\",\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/toppun.com\\\/blog\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/23524eae4bc27be85d1cdc01bc6d380e\"},\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\\\/\\\/toppun.com\\\/blog\\\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":[\"Person\",\"Organization\"],\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/toppun.com\\\/blog\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/23524eae4bc27be85d1cdc01bc6d380e\",\"name\":\"Top Pun\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/f78057fc29c98405f1474e223d51149b962df4af36cea20bf4ccbb189f621bb7?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/f78057fc29c98405f1474e223d51149b962df4af36cea20bf4ccbb189f621bb7?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/f78057fc29c98405f1474e223d51149b962df4af36cea20bf4ccbb189f621bb7?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"Top Pun\"},\"logo\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/f78057fc29c98405f1474e223d51149b962df4af36cea20bf4ccbb189f621bb7?s=96&d=mm&r=g\"},\"sameAs\":[\"http:\\\/\\\/TopPun.com\\\/\"]},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"POEM: Wage Slave Be Free | About Top Pun, Health, Poems, Political and Philosophical Musings | Top Pun's Poetry, Funny Puns, Free Posters, Public Health Radio Show! %","description":"POEM: Wage Slave Be Free, About Top Pun, Health, Poems, Political and Philosophical Musings, America, Change, Climate Change, Diminishing Returns, Economic, Employment, Environment, Experience, Freedom, Happiness, History, Income, Job, Jobs, Labor, Life, Lifestyle, Living Simply, Money, Poems, Poetry, Poverty, Power, Productivity, Rich, Short Poems, Slavery, Success, Sustainable, Western Civilization, Work Top Pun's Poetry, Funny Puns, Free Posters, Public Health Radio Show! %","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/toppun.com\/blog\/2014\/04\/11\/poem-wage-slave-free\/","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"","Est. reading time":"3 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Article","@id":"https:\/\/toppun.com\/blog\/2014\/04\/11\/poem-wage-slave-free\/#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/toppun.com\/blog\/2014\/04\/11\/poem-wage-slave-free\/"},"author":{"name":"","@id":""},"headline":"POEM: Wage Slave Be Free","datePublished":"2014-04-11T16:12:53+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/toppun.com\/blog\/2014\/04\/11\/poem-wage-slave-free\/"},"wordCount":526,"commentCount":0,"publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/toppun.com\/blog\/#\/schema\/person\/23524eae4bc27be85d1cdc01bc6d380e"},"keywords":["America","Change","Climate Change","Diminishing Returns","Economic","Employment","Environment","Experience","Freedom","Happiness","History","Income","Job","Jobs","Labor","Life","Lifestyle","Living Simply","Money","Poems","Poetry","Poverty","Power","Productivity","Rich","Short Poems","Slavery","Success","Sustainable","Western Civilization","Work"],"articleSection":["About Top Pun","Health","Poems","Political and Philosophical Musings"],"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"CommentAction","name":"Comment","target":["https:\/\/toppun.com\/blog\/2014\/04\/11\/poem-wage-slave-free\/#respond"]}]},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/toppun.com\/blog\/2014\/04\/11\/poem-wage-slave-free\/","url":"https:\/\/toppun.com\/blog\/2014\/04\/11\/poem-wage-slave-free\/","name":"POEM: Wage Slave Be Free | About Top Pun, Health, Poems, Political and Philosophical Musings | Top Pun's Poetry, Funny Puns, Free Posters, Public Health Radio Show! %","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/toppun.com\/blog\/#website"},"datePublished":"2014-04-11T16:12:53+00:00","description":"POEM: Wage Slave Be Free, About Top Pun, Health, Poems, Political and Philosophical Musings, America, Change, Climate Change, Diminishing Returns, Economic, Employment, Environment, Experience, Freedom, Happiness, History, Income, Job, Jobs, Labor, Life, Lifestyle, Living Simply, Money, Poems, Poetry, Poverty, Power, Productivity, Rich, Short Poems, Slavery, Success, Sustainable, Western Civilization, Work Top Pun's Poetry, Funny Puns, Free Posters, Public Health Radio Show! %","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/toppun.com\/blog\/2014\/04\/11\/poem-wage-slave-free\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/toppun.com\/blog\/2014\/04\/11\/poem-wage-slave-free\/"]}]},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/toppun.com\/blog\/2014\/04\/11\/poem-wage-slave-free\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Blog HOME","item":"https:\/\/toppun.com\/blog\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"About Top Pun","item":"https:\/\/toppun.com\/blog\/category\/about-top-pun\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"name":"POEM: Wage Slave Be Free"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/toppun.com\/blog\/#website","url":"https:\/\/toppun.com\/blog\/","name":"Top Pun's Poetry, Funny Political Puns, Free Posters, Public Health Radio Show!","description":"Top Pun's Pun-filled Stuff, Satire, and Public Health Science","publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/toppun.com\/blog\/#\/schema\/person\/23524eae4bc27be85d1cdc01bc6d380e"},"potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/toppun.com\/blog\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":["Person","Organization"],"@id":"https:\/\/toppun.com\/blog\/#\/schema\/person\/23524eae4bc27be85d1cdc01bc6d380e","name":"Top Pun","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/f78057fc29c98405f1474e223d51149b962df4af36cea20bf4ccbb189f621bb7?s=96&d=mm&r=g","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/f78057fc29c98405f1474e223d51149b962df4af36cea20bf4ccbb189f621bb7?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/f78057fc29c98405f1474e223d51149b962df4af36cea20bf4ccbb189f621bb7?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"Top Pun"},"logo":{"@id":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/f78057fc29c98405f1474e223d51149b962df4af36cea20bf4ccbb189f621bb7?s=96&d=mm&r=g"},"sameAs":["http:\/\/TopPun.com\/"]},{"@type":"Person","@id":""}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/toppun.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1467","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/toppun.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/toppun.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/toppun.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/toppun.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1467"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/toppun.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1467\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1468,"href":"https:\/\/toppun.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1467\/revisions\/1468"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/toppun.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1467"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/toppun.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1467"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/toppun.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1467"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}