Modern Day Slavery
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Modern-day slavery comes in a new hidden form. It’s the ball and chain that keeps you from doing your art. It’s your debt. Think about it. What keeps you from painting, photographing, drawing, writing, or sculpting? It’s essentially time. Why don’t you have enough time? Because you are working at the factory job, whether it be a minimum wage Walmart kind of job, or a high paying Government one. The more you make, the more you spend, and the more debt accumulates.
You just bought a $1000 big screen TV on your credit card. Even if you pay $100 a month, you’re chained to your job and your long hours for at least another 10 months. Then you buy a new $8,000 car, nothing too fancy. Well, this loan has you tied down for three additional years at $300 a month. It keeps going, and going, and going. Pretty soon, you’ll look back and see you’re working two jobs and you don’t even get to enjoy the big screen TV you bought in the beginning. This “stuff” begins to collect dust. This stuff racks up your debt. This stuff keeps you from creating art, from traveling, and keeps you locked in a job you hate. You don’t need the stuff. Turn off your television with all of the commercials trying to sell you brand names, new cameras, Coach bags, and shinier cars. You don’t need that crap. You need your art. We need it too. Add up your savings, then add up your debt. Do the math. Are you free, or do you have a chain around your ankle, keeping you from accomplishing the artwork you were put on this earth for? The term “starving artist” doesn’t have to apply to you if you ignore the pressures of spending that you are bombarded with on TV, the internet, billboards, and magazines. You just have to find a balance between work and art and get rid of any life suffocating debt.
Fight Club
Of course, I couldn’t go without quoting Fight Club, one of my favorite movies…”The things you own, end up owning you.” Tyler Durden, a character in the movie, is a bit extreme, but various ideas in the movie resonate and hold some truth…even when dramatized for entertainment.
Wall Hugger Commercial – Slave to Devices
This one is pretty funny too, but it’s true. Don’t get me wrong, I’ve done it before. Sitting there on the floor with my sister, charging our phones before the next flight. People have become slaves to their devices.
