Thursday, October 8, 2009

Freedom and the Welfare State

I'm not crazy. Well, not completely crazy. heh. The majority of Americans don't see the welfare state as slavery. This recent article on CNN.com proves otherwise.

In this aspect, freedom is financial freedom, and slavery is being subjugated to the whims of the government. There are how many hundreds of thousands of people wondering if they will have money for food or groceries because the Senate is wringing it's hands about who should get the money. In other words, these people are slaves to the government teat.

Funny coming from me, as I'm about to go on unemployment myself. I'm looking hard and fast, but so far everything I can get quick is out in AZ, NM, NYC, or TX. All temp work too. I really don't want to live in a hotel for 3+ months, and if the balloon goes up have to cross 3000 miles just to get back home.

I'm not desperate yet, I got a few irons in the fire. The problem is at my level it takes a while for the hiring process. It's one thing if you're a desktop tech, those are a dime a dozen. Engineers are harder to get and more expensive, so companies need to interview you 4-5 times before you get the job. That's the one thing I'm short of: time.

This has got me to thinking, which is always dangerous, about the nature of freedom. What is Freedom? Is owning your own business freedom? Or is it just another form of confinement as you are slaved to your customers.

King Missile has a song called "I wish" and it's one of my favorites. In the lyrics he says "Freedom is within where I shall never find it." I suspect this is the real truth of the matter. We are all dependent on each other and our society in ways we cannot fully comprehend because we accept being dependent.

I look at the world in shades of gray, there is no absolute good, and there is no absolute evil. This has to be the case with freedom as well. You can never be 100% free, and likewise, never completely imprisoned. All degrees of freedom or slavery we find ourselves in.The $64,000 question is what are we going to do about it?

6 comments:

Tim Covington said...

The only true freedom is being completely independent of others, but it is a lonely existence. The question is "what are you willing to trade freedom for?"
When we are married, we have traded some freedom for love.
When we have children, we have traded some freedom in the hopes of making the world a little better.
Unless you are independently wealthy, you trade some freedom for the necessities of life.

Herbalpagan said...

email me: herbalpagan@gmail.com for some possible job info in state.

Mayberry said...

To me, Freedom is being debt free. Owning some property outright. Owning EVERYTHING outright. Having a nice stack of preps on hand. And that makes having a job a convenience rather than a necessity. Absence of wage slavery equals Freedom, in my humble opinion. But I suppose the definition is different for other people...

Pete Smith said...

I try to get to freedom everyday. I work to be debt free and pay off my house. Over the last three years I have done good. My RV and both trucks are paid for. Now the credit cards and when done with them I will cut them up. And last is my house, after it's paid for I will feel a lot more free.

http://patriotsagainstthenwo.blogspot.com/

irishdutchuncle said...

NYC isn't that far, (geographically or politically)as long as the trains keep running. you'll make more money working, than you can collecting.

who is your current employers biggest competitor? they should get a resume from you too. be sure to have a look at usajobs.gov, remember, uncle sam can print all the money they need to to keep paying you.

Unknown said...

"We are all dependent on each other and our society in ways we cannot fully comprehend because we accept being dependent."

I believe you are referring to the social contract.... we give up some of our freedoms in order to live in society harmoniously - and because we cannot produce all the things we need on our own, it benefits us because we can cooperate for a better existence.