Employment Is Paid Slavery

Employment Is Paid Slavery

slavery [ˈsleɪvərɪ]

n

1.     (Law) the state or condition of being a slave; a civil relationship whereby one person has absolute power over another and controls his life, liberty, and fortune.

Collins English Dictionary – Complete and Unabridged © HarperCollins Publishers 1991, 1994, 1998, 2000, 2003

In my recent exposure to being a member of the unemployed, I’ve had a lot of time to think and analyse employment as a component of society. Employment is not a choice, it is a necessity to survive. An income must be derived in order to meet the basic needs of human life. These needs are water, food, shelter, and, depending upon climate, clothing. Beyond that, everything else is a luxury. http://wiki.answers.com/Q/What_are_the_basic_necessities_for_the_survival_of_the_human_civilisation#ixzz1NEzpe3sk

In order to obtain these core components of human life, goods or services must be rendered and remuneration supplied. This generally means being employed in order to receive a stable income to sate these needs.

Why then, are so many of us forced to work in jobs or roles we have no satisfaction in? For the simple need to source financial assets in order to support our basic life requirements, and our extended life desires, wants and needs.

Using the definition of slavery above, life has power over us all. To sustain our lives and lifestyles, we need to work.

Making a brutally honest observation, look at life in Ethiopia, and similar African countries. Hundreds upon thousands lose their lives in tragic and painful manners due to starvation. Life has the power. Without money to buy food and water, this is the result. This is the consequence of ignoring human needs at their most primal level. Without demeaning the obvious tragedy that those less fortunate than us are forced to deal with, let’s relate slavery to the middle class Australian.

Most of us have houses, mobile phones, televisions, cars, fridges and so on. To have these objects, we need to pay for them. To pay for them, we need an income. The more prestigious and superior your assets and articles, the more you must pay to enjoy them. It is, to a degree, hedonistic activity. Deriving pleasure from enjoying these articles that in reality add no substantial value to our daily life.

By writing this down on my laptop, using electricity to power it, I’m indulging in an activity that is hedonistic to me. The more of these activities I have, the more I must support them with money. If my laptop were to be taken away, I would survive. If my access to water and food were taken away, I wouldn’t.

Why then, should we support these devices by working in an unfulfilling and unrewarding job? What do you derive pleasure from?

From working a 60 hour week at the office, 70 including travel, so you can be paid $80,000 a year, have the big house, the car, the pool.

Or do you derive pleasure from working 40 hours a week where you’re paid $50,000 a year but you can spend more time at home to enjoy those few assets you can afford on your reduced salary?

We are all slaves to life. And our employment dictates the degree to which we are trapped in this cycle of pleasure and pain. We could all get by working for reduced salaries, living in smaller houses, but would it make you happy?

All you need is food, water and shelter , right?