Indebted

A friend of mine called yesterday to comment on what she had heard a journalist report on the Writer's Guild strike. Apparently, this reporter was in front of Paramount Studios, standing among the picketers, but you wouldn't have known it as there wasn't a peep, not a megaphone in the vicinity, nor a chant. It was so quiet, the reporter felt urged to comment on that fact alone.

Remember Vietnam? I suppose we were pushed to stand up, pump our fists, lay on the ground, scream and yell as it was a bit more personal due to the draft. Times have certainly changed since then. I have a little theory on it that I like to call "DEBT".

Credit Cards were rare in the "old days". Anyone can get one these days. In fact, you go to apply for college and you're being sent credit offers left and right. Unlike France where your education is paid for by the government, we enter college and are, for the most part, instantly in a heck of a lot of debt...and spend the next several years out of school working any job we can get, sometimes more than one, simply to get us out of the hole we have dug for ourselves (by the way, in France - the government is more afraid of the people as they are not at all timid about protesting. We are the other way around...get the picture? Watch "Michael Moore's "Sicko". They also have Universal health care. Go figure.).

When you are indebted to someone or something, you become a slave to it, you lose your freedom. Along with slavery comes fear, and when you are afraid, you tend to keep quiet and "do as you're told" in order to remain in the state you are in. Think about it, if you speak up, you could lose your horrible, hated corporate job (that has nothing to do with the major you chose). If you lose your job, how will you afford to pay rent, pay for your car, pay off your credit card debt, pay for your student loans, pay for your mortgage? If you lose your home, your car, your "freedom", you will no longer be looked at as an educated, respectable, acceptable, functioning part of society. You will be ALONE. We call this "freedom". Sounds a lot like slavery to me.

FEAR, FEAR, FEAR. It all boils down to the last part I spoke of, fear of being alone. The media/schools/parents/advertising agencies teach us that in order to be respected and loved, you must get a good education which will ultimately lead to a good job so you can drive a nice car, have a nice house, enjoy vacations....and shut the hell up or you'll lose it all. So, why don't they just come straight out and say that debt brings happiness? Because it doesn't. Debt brings control. Debt makes it a lot easier on the government when they are funding a useless, endless war. We 'need' to keep our jobs so we tape our mouths shut. Debt makes it a lot easier on the producers when those of us not in the Writer's Guild fear losing our jobs, therefore are not supportive of the strike.

Maybe radical, physical picketing is outdated. Maybe we need to use the strategy the government has created against them. We could stop buying the gas, stop buying the toys, stop buying the gossip magazines, stop working our production jobs for a minute, stop buying into the lies. We could each work on avoiding the need to consume and begin paying our way out of slavery...paying off our credit cards, paying off our car loans, paying off our mortgages and taste real freedom for a change.

My point in this rant: no matter the cause, speak up. We can't be afraid to speak up and be heard. Whether it be a child not able to get a book for a class, being rejected health insurance coverage, or our brothers and sisters dying in a pointless war - we've got to open up our mouths and speak our truths. (I apologize if my point wasn't clear prior to posting this paragraph.) I in no way compare the Writer's Guild strike to the horrendous losses in Vietnam (thank you, anonymous) other than the fact that I feel no matter what the cause, if it is important to you, one shouldn't allow fear of loss to tape our mouths shut.

Another note to anonymous poster: Next time, post your name...don't be fearful of expressing your opinion. Maybe then we can discuss the issue. Also, I might add, I am merely expressing opinion here...I am not reporting news or writing history text books. Therefore, my opinion is not out of touch, nor have I 'missed it'. I so love the fact that you have expressed your opinion though as it caused me to go back and rethink the message I was putting forth. :) Love, love and more love.