The “priviliged”, those who are surrounded by society’s support system, are told from the youngest age the goal of education is to make it into college, become a working adult, find a spouse, buy a house, have kids, send the kids to school for education, continue working, financially support the kids, hopefully retire, and then spend the money remaining on whatever leisure you can afford.
But what happens when you are one of the “lucky ones” and you go through the education system, kindergarten to senior year of high school, get into a good college, graduate with a degree, find a job in your field of study, and find out you hate the job. You can’t follow the traditional path. For this you are looked at as though you have five eyes and an extra limb. Like you are not fit for society. No matter how hard “they” try, they cannot figure out why you cannot conform to their lifestyle. They have sacrificed their entire life to live the aforementioned script of life. They are toiling to make ends meet, to live a society-deemed fulfilling life and they do not understand why you do not grasp this idea. It is the way it has always been. Work, even if you do not enjoy it, even if it compromises your health, even if it takes you away from your child’s greatest moments, even if it leads to divorce, you are supposed to work.
Not only are you compromising all of those things, you are putting a veil on your mind to only focus on the work at hand. Work is an escape from reality. It is an addiction much like heroine. Druggies are ostracized from society, but workaholics are crowned and admired. Workaholics are druggies. People who work within society’s norms are the same as druggies. They might have an excuse. They work to feed their family. But work turns into an addiction. In pursuing salary, workers disregard all sorts of other important things in life. They sacrifice their minds.
Thoughts do not make it past the morning cup of coffee. That run, which keeps you healthy, never gets ran. The chance to watch your daughter’s t-ball game gets obstructed by a last-minute “emergency”. Your spouse’s anniversary goes forgotten. The mind that got you to where you were, which is smart, well-educated, a treasure to the world, gets wasted.
And it is under this veil that allows sheep to be prodded by the shepherd. For people to become part of the herd and unable to get out. The veil ensures thoughts get covered up. That we become sheep. Instead of having our own thoughts we conform to society and do what is “right”. But is it not one’s moral duty to do what is best for society? Is not society better off with the thoughtful, innovative, never-miss-a kid’s event adult than with a work-addicted adult? Can work not be partaken as both a means to feed the family and a way for that mind to make contributions to society? Why do people have to toil at work? Society needs the best and brightest to think for themselves and improve the lives of others. They do not need more sheep. I am a lion and I refuse to talk, to walk, to sleep with the sheep.