Mar 2, 2012

Creating Jobs & Security: Codeword for Slavery

It takes a great deal of faith and effort to sustain freedom.

When I hear politicians promising to create jobs for the people, or when I hear citizens demanding that it's every citizen's right to have a secure job, I believe we've lost the true spirit of what it means to be an American.

Security is an illusion born out of fear.  Freedom is a byproduct of those living by faith.

Is our country the land of the secure?  Or is it the land of the free? 

Home of the scared?  Or home of the brave?

The more a nation leans towards favoring security out of fear, the more power and freedom will be extracted from the lives of its citizens.  

You want 100% employment?  Look no further than the ancient Israelite captivity in Egypt.  You want it?  You got it: 100% employment equals slavery.

People who cling to security the most end up in prison.  That's why they call it maximum security.

Speaking of the typical job vs. prison, let's note the contrast. 

I read this years ago, and have always thought it funny and somewhat sad considering our tendency to cling to job security.  Compare the contrast between prison life and the typical job: 

  •  In prison you spend the majority of your time in an 8' X 10' cell.
  • At work you spend most of your time in a 6' X 8' cubicle.
  • In prison you get three meals a day.
  • At work you only get a break for one meal and you have to pay for that one.
  • In prison you get time off for good behavior.
  • At work you get rewarded for good behavior with more work.
  • In prison a guard locks and unlocks all the doors for you.
  • At work you must carry around a security card and unlock and open all the doors yourself.
  • In prison you can watch TV and play games.
  • At work you get fired for watching TV and playing games.
  • In prison they ball-and-chain you when you go somewhere.
  • At work you are just ball-and-chained.
  • In prison you get your own toilet.
  • At work you have to share.
  • In prison they allow your family and friends to visit.
  • At work you cannot even speak to your family and friends.
  • In prison all expenses are paid by taxpayers, with no work required.
  • At work you get to pay all the expenses to go to work and then they deduct taxes from your salary to pay for the prisoners.
  • In prison you spend most of your life looking through bars from the inside wanting to get out.
  • At work you spend most of your time wanting to get out and inside bars.
  • In prison you can join many programs which you can leave at any time.
  • At work there are some programs you can never get out of.
"If a nation values anything more than freedom, it will lose its freedom; and the irony of it is that if it is comfort or money that it values more, it will lose that too." - W. Somerset Maugham