How to Escape Wage Slavery

BY SOFO ARCHON

If you take a good look around, you’ll see that most people are slaves—or, more precisely, wage slaves. Day in and day out, they sell at least half of their waking time to a boss, expending most of their energy as employees, just to earn a salary in return. And although almost no one enjoys this, it’s considered normal in our culture.

Obviously, we need food and water to survive, as well as shelter and material objects that make life comfortable. How do we acquire these things? Everyone knows the answer: by exchanging them for money. In our culture, money is what allows us to satisfy our needs. Without money, we can’t “earn a living.” And unless we do so, we can’t “afford” to do anything else. I, for example, can’t simply express myself through writing or painting—two of my biggest “passions”—unless I can support myself financially. Although for several years now I’ve managed to earn what some call “passive income” from work I love, my journey wasn’t easy at the start.

Not long ago, I was a wage slave myself, working as a video editor for corporate TV—a job I utterly hated, given how much I despised its deceptive nature (there are many other reasons why I hated it, but that’s for another article). I was grateful, however, to earn a salary, fully aware that so many people struggle to survive. My situation was difficult but still good compared to that of billions of other people.

My job required me to waste seven hours a day, six days a week, in front of a computer screen. Yet I would go home every night and pour the rest of my energy into this blog. My eyes were red and my head felt heavy, but writing was a must—not because anyone forced me to, but because of the joy it brought into my life. It was something I loved doing (and still do), and I aimed to do it as much—and as well—as I could.

Fortunately, my blog soon started doing so well in terms of readership that I could make enough money from it to quit my job. This, of course, doesn’t necessarily mean that working hard at what you love will bring financial freedom—in fact, most likely it won’t, considering how fiercely competitive our economic system is. Countless people have dedicated their entire lives to their “passions” but never made a penny. A great example is Van Gogh. He created a significant number of paintings, but, as far as I’ve heard, he couldn’t sell a single one while he was alive—except for one that his younger brother secretly bought to help him feel less like a failure. Now, he is recognized as an artistic genius, and his paintings sell for tens or even hundreds of millions of dollars.

By doing what you love, you can derive immense joy and fulfillment—and even if you never earn money from it, it’s still worth pursuing. And yet, you still need to somehow earn an income—unless, of course, you’re willing to starve or have someone else support you financially. You need to find a job or, if the conditions allow, become self-employed. The question is, what’s the best occupational choice one can make?

In my view, it’s one that aligns as much as possible with your interests and talents while contributing to the betterment of the world. Again, that’s difficult to achieve in our inhumane economic system, but it’s worth striving for, no matter the outcome. Even if you can’t achieve it and find yourself struggling as a wage slave, do your best to spend your spare time on what brings you joy—ideally in a way that also benefits others. And who knows, if you offer something valuable to the world, people might recognize your gift and show their appreciation—sometimes even with money.

In my case, this is precisely what happened. Several readers I’ve never met decided to donate a tiny part of their income to support my work. Of course, I never write with the intention of receiving an external reward. To me, the very process of writing is rewarding in itself, but I have to admit it feels nice when I receive thank-you messages from readers or when they express their gratitude through a donation. The problem often arises when someone does something solely because they expect a reward. Not that it’s inherently wrong to expect one, but the universe doesn’t seem to work that way. If what you’re putting out into the world isn’t coming from the heart, people will most probably recognize it and may not be willing to support your work. On the other hand, if your work comes from a place of unconditional love, it’s likely you’ll receive love in return, in one form or another—including financial support.

Having said that, if we truly want to address wage slavery from its roots, we need to radically change our economic system. We, as individuals, might try to “follow our purpose,” regardless of the conditions we live in, but when the socioeconomic structure of our society constantly and unavoidably places obstacles in our path to prosperity and contentment, the better approach is to change the system itself. The good news is that we possess the scientific knowledge and technological means to create a system where everyone has enough resources to satisfy their needs without submitting to oppressive work. To find out how we can do that, as well as to better understand what’s wrong with our current system, continue reading here.