Why do people become slaves to money

SLUSK

All over the world people are slaves to money. It starts out already when people go to college or uni, they get student loans and put themselves into debt. After they finish and get a decent job, they borrow heaps of money to buy a nice house. They put themselves so deep into debt that they become dependent on their employer and get into a stage where they cannot quit because even if they hate their job because they live paycheck to paycheck. People buy alot of useless junk they don't need, I got 40K in the bank, no debts. The only thing I own are a few clothes, a suitcase, a backpack and a laptop. I am a free man, I don't need the fancy cars, don't need to go to expensive cafées and hang with the in crowd. The man who is in debt is not free, he is a slave.

Affable

But for me, having 40K in the bank is dangerous-I'd fritter it and some people are safer trying to make investments alll the time. That's why they overreach slightly.

Out of interest, do you rent accommodation? How do you manage for work? I am unemployed.

SLUSK

Why do you feel the urge to spend all your money then?

Affable

SLUSK wrote: »

Why do you feel the urge to spend all your money then?

Going out, meals, drinks, cds books, just to relieve boredom/loneliness..mgiht be different if I was in a job. But It'd only be to support what I want to do which is write fiction.

Nick_oliveri

Thats the system. Most people are happy to be paying off a car loan or a mortgage and be in ****ty monotonous jobs for the rest of their lives.

Its called modern society.

mcgarnicle

As Nick states what you are addressing is modern society. Various interested parties have spent fortunes over the past hundred years or more in psychological and societal research in order learn how to push people's buttons in just the right way to make them willingly sell their lives to banks in order to obtain fancy stuff to decorate the bank's house in which they live.

Zombrex

SLUSK wrote: »

Why do you feel the urge to spend all your money then?

People get a good feeling from shopping and collecting stuff. The availability of easy credit in the last 10 years has allowed people to do this even if they didn't have the money. So people weren't sensible and rain up large debt because they wanted to buy stuff without waiting to save the money.

metrovelvet

People are slaves to money because without it you die. "It's the economy stupid."

scanlas

Money is necessary and practical. A lot of people however purchase stuff to fill a void of genuine self esteem, and the advertisers know that and use it to make people keep buying stuff they don't need. These people temporarily feel good when they buy the product they don't need but then that temporary good feeling goes away and they buy something else to replace the good feeling....and so on.

mehmeh12

Money= Life

SLUSK

Yes I do agree that money is important. I love my money more than most people in my life, but I am not a slave under money. I live life in a way so I'm not to dependent on my employers so I can tell them to go to hell if they try to push me around to much.

dearg lady

Agreed, modern society is depressing. Some of the happiest most content people I've ever met are not at all wealthy.

Had a convo with someone about this recently, and we both realised as soon as a have 'stuff' you're just worried about something happening to the stuff, and it brings ya down.

I won't deny that I've bought into th whole needing things to make me happy to a certain extent. Something I'm now makin efforts to change. I don't have expensive tastes and even tho I love clothes I'm not one for trends so will wear my clothes for years. Travel is probably my biggest weakness, I adore visiting new places, but again I'm happy to do on a shoestring.

I'd like to move towards a more day to day contentedness, which unfortunately I think not that many people have.

FallingDown

As far as I can see SLUSK,you were a slave to money to some extent,how else did you get 40k in the bank?

I would say that you're a slave to money too, slusk. You feel the need not to get involved with money too much, which means you're actively avoiding certain scenarios and situations, so, money is still controlling your life.

An analogy: A man doesn't like shopping, he thinks that shopping is shallow and materialistic. So, this man avoids shopping altogether, he thinks he's now in control, he thinks he's free. But, is he? He's letting his hatred for something control what actions he takes, he's letting what he hates control what he does. So... He's not really free either, is he?

To be free from something, you mustn't let it influence you either postively or negatively; in that respect, you're just as free as the rest of us.

SLUSK

frugal living

pepsi1234

The more things you own, the more you have to manage, maintain and keep up.

nyarlothothep

-JammyDodger- wrote: »

I would say that you're a slave to money too, slusk. You feel the need not to get involved with money too much, which means you're actively avoiding certain scenarios and situations, so, money is still controlling your life.

An analogy: A man doesn't like shopping, he thinks that shopping is shallow and materialistic. So, this man avoids shopping altogether, he thinks he's now in control, he thinks he's free. But, is he? He's letting his hatred for something control what actions he takes, he's letting what he hates control what he does. So... He's not really free either, is he?

To be free from something, you mustn't let it influence you either postively or negatively; in that respect, you're just as free as the rest of us.

so any dislike for something means that its controlling you? I don't like pop music so I avoid listening to it, does that mean its controlling me?

nyarlothothep

nyarlothothep wrote: »

so any dislike for something means that its controlling you? I don't like pop music so I avoid listening to it, does that mean its controlling me?

No, because it's not something that can "control you" (as the OP says about money) in the first place.

nyarlothothep

-JammyDodger- wrote: »

No, because it's not something that can "control you" (as the OP says about money) in the first place.

People can be influenced by pop music, it can determine how they dress, what attitudes they take towards life and so forth. Pop music can control you. If something has the potential to control you and you refuse to be controlled by it through a dislike of it or whatever, that doesn't necessarily equate to being controlled by it. Each person is different and their cognitive biases towards something will indicate whether they are controlled by it or not, simply saying dislike of something which can control you=being controlled by it ignores these factors.

Ostrom

nyarlothothep wrote: »

People can be influenced by pop music, it can determine how they dress, what attitudes they take towards life and so forth. Pop music can control you. If something has the potential to control you and you refuse to be controlled by it through a dislike of it or whatever, that doesn't necessarily equate to being controlled by it. Each person is different and their cognitive biases towards something will indicate whether they are controlled by it or not, simply saying dislike of something which can control you=being controlled by it ignores these factors.

Our existence depends on a stable universal medium to realise exchange

pagancornflake

nyarlothothep wrote: »

People can be influenced by pop music, it can determine how they dress, what attitudes they take towards life and so forth. Pop music can control you. If something has the potential to control you and you refuse to be controlled by it through a dislike of it or whatever, that doesn't necessarily equate to being controlled by it. Each person is different and their cognitive biases towards something will indicate whether they are controlled by it or not, simply saying dislike of something which can control you=being controlled by it ignores these factors.

The difference between money and pop music in this context is that money is a requisite for goods and services (basically the fundamental thing which defines/affects your satndard of living), whereas pop music is crap and uninteresting. Pop music is not a cornerstone of the system and society unless you are a chav or socialite, whereas money is a ubiquitous determinant in our lives. Money kicks ass.

On that basis, Jammydodger is right about everything.

/thread

Ickle Magoo

SLUSK wrote: »

frugal living

Maybe for some people frugal living doesn't equal happy life? I like my house, and my car - I don't have huge debts. I like buying things, I don't feel like a slave to anything, I enjoy my life.

I've no doubt that some people live out-with their means and that some hold their material possessions in far too high regard. Between them & a man with a few clothes, a suitcase, a backpack and a laptop & 40k in the bank, is the rest of us. Moderation is good.

nyarlothothep

pagancornflake wrote: »

The difference between money and pop music in this context is that money is a requisite for goods and services (basically the fundamental thing which defines/affects your satndard of living), whereas pop music is crap and uninteresting. Pop music is not a cornerstone of the system and society unless you are a chav or socialite, whereas money is a ubiquitous determinant in our lives. Money kicks ass.

On that basis, Jammydodger is right about everything.

/thread

yes money kicks ass...quite...:rolleyes:

Ostrom

SLUSK wrote: »

All over the world people are slaves to money. It starts out already when people go to college or uni, they get student loans and put themselves into debt. After they finish and get a decent job, they borrow heaps of money to buy a nice house. They put themselves so deep into debt that they become dependent on their employer and get into a stage where they cannot quit because even if they hate their job because they live paycheck to paycheck. People buy alot of useless junk they don't need, I got 40K in the bank, no debts. The only thing I own are a few clothes, a suitcase, a backpack and a laptop. I am a free man, I don't need the fancy cars, don't need to go to expensive cafées and hang with the in crowd. The man who is in debt is not free, he is a slave.

Sounds like you need a browse through Marx

Seriously, its as good a place to start as any

Pride Fighter

I suppose we need money to eat and afford a home. Back in the day if we needed those things, we found some good land, near a river for water, near a forest for fuel and house building materials. One would then grow crops and keep animals to eat and live in a house we constructed. That was the fruits of our labour. Now we do slightly different labour for the same reward. Life does not change, circumstances do.

Hookey

This is just a trolling thread to show off he's got 40K in the bank. Not influenced by money me arse.