I shall consider this post part philosophy, part conspiracy theory and part madness. Which means don’t take it too seriously but don’t dismiss the contents altogether. My plan is to explore a theme that has been common in my thoughts for many years. The theme is basically that there is a system that’s beyond the control of all of us (save perhaps a precious few masters of the universe) and does its best to keep us as a part of that system in one way or another. Some ways are quite obvious and other ways are quite subtle. Regardless, everyone serves the system in some way. I guess you could say that this theme is inspired by the Alan Watts theory that life is a game.
One example of this system of which I speak can be found in a scene early in the film The Wolf Of Wall Street, which was directed by Martin Scorcese and starring Leonardo DiCaprio. The film is based on the true story of a man from Queens, New York who ruthlessly built a successful stock trading firm outside of Manhattan by teaching his brokers high pressure sales tactics and sometimes engaging in outright illegal practices. In the scene in question a young Jordan Belfort is at his first job on Wall Street and having lunch with his new boss Mr. Hanna, who’s played by Matthey McConaughey. Hanna tells Belfort what his job as a stock broker is really all about. And it’s not about making his clients the most money via stock trades!
During the scene Hanna explains to Belfort that his job is to get clients excited about investing even more of the money they have into stocks such that they never cash out and enjoy fruits of money they may gain via stock trading. Hanna explains that ultimately if a client’s money remains numbers in a ledger that Belfort (and the firm he works for) will make the most money. So Belfort’s actual job is to ensure that clients are encouraged to be greedy enough to never have their dreams become reality. Because if a client cashes out to take a trip around the world or to buy a mansion after making big money in a stock trade then the trading firm gets no more commissions off that capital. Hence, whatever marketing materials a stock trading firm may promise their true goal is to keep your money in their system…forever if possible.
If you doubt that example please consider an additional piece of information. Consider what most people fret about when they are faced with selling anything at a large gain. Taxes. The prospect of taxes being due on a gain offer just one more incentive to keep money in the financial system. In fact, the longer one holds a particular security the less taxes that they will pay due to a distinction between long and short-term capital gains. Not to get too wonky on you. I do think that example helps to shine a bit more light on how the system nudges you to do what it wants.
My overall point is larger than just one about money though. The financial aspect of the system is just one thing that allows the system to exert control over our lives. Think about education and employment. These are two systems that everyone will be a part of at some point in their lives. When I was in elementary school there were still many people who embarked on careers after gaining a high school diploma. That changed and by the time I graduated high school most teenagers were expected to enter colleges. This was at a time when colleges were still reasonably priced for the most part. Over the years as federally subsidized student loans gained in popularity graduate degrees and advanced graduate degrees also gained in popularity. The education system, which already had almost all students in its grip for about fourteen years extended that period to nearly twenty-five years (or more!) for some students. The education system is a powerful system!
The employment system is another system that works hand-in-hand with the education system. The education system can help to manage the flow of people into the employment system so that the employment system doesn’t get overwhelmed with people wanting jobs. The education system can also plant the ideas into their students and create habits that the employment system prefers. The education system is not concerned that the employment system will take too many people from them. Because many larger employers greatly encourage, and sometimes will pay for, continuing education. One hand washes the other. Most people are not aware of this symbiotic relationship. Most people are not aware that by following the lead of these systems that they are doing the bidding of others more than they are doing the bidding for themselves. Taken at face value people usually feel that these systems are beneficial to them. But consider that when engaging in advanced education you either accrue student loans which create a necessity to work longer or (if a company pays for the advanced education) you accrue an obligation to work at an employer for an extended period of time. Either way, you are kept in the employment system.
The employment system isn’t concerned about the education system taking too many people away from them because eventually everyone has to work to pay bills. The employment system has many enticements to not only attract people but to keep them part of their system for very long periods of time. Over the years actual pay from a career has become overshadowed by benefits. Benefits are basically everything beyond being paid in money when working at a job. They include company subsidized health insurance, paid sick days, paid vacation days, paid family leave, matching funds for retirement savings, access to free legals services, or extended maternity/paternity leave. In fact, when many people consider having to leave a job (voluntarily or involuntarily) the loss of benefits is as big a concern as a the loss of pay. For almost everyone the enticement of these benefits is strong enough to keep them in the system even though they may hate their jobs or they may be just burnt out from many years of work. These benefits are also very hard to quantify which makes people unsure if they could replicate the value if they were to engage in entrepreneurial endeavors that did not include such benefits. So most people feel safer staying in the employment system.
As a prime example of what I’m talking about I recall a conversation with a co-worker who just turned sixty-two and can qualify to take social security benefits that he has paid into for over forty years. I asked if he considered retiring and living on his retirement savings plus social security benefits. He said he would wait until at least sixty-five to retire because then he would qualify for Medicare, which is a government subsidized health insurance plan for older people. Even though he could buy health insurance on the private market before that he preferred keeping his employer subsidized health insurance which costs him less money. The dollars and cents of such a plan can be debated, but the end result is that the man has a very strong incentive to stay in the employment system even though he could afford to pay for the health insurance out of his own pocket. This also exposes relationship between the employment system and the government system which also work hand-in-hand to ensure that people stay within the employment system until both agree that it’s the best time for people to leave the employment system.
My ask for those few people who will read this post is simple. Consider the ideas that I’ve posed in this post and how they impact your life. What I’ve described is a system that is made up of several interconnected systems: Financial, Educational, Employment (Corporate) and Governmental. My hypothesis is that the overall system is designed to keep you in the system. If that’s the case then consider contemplating the following.
- Do the above ideas make sense?
- Is staying in the overall system a good thing?
- Being aware of the system and its aims, what can I do to ensure that as much as possible my personal interests are represented?
- Are there things that I could change that would level the playing field in terms of the power that the system has over me?
- Is working within the system a better option than attempting to avoid it altogether?
- Am I better off not worrying about it and as The Beatles sang, Let It Be?
Food for thought people. And as I said at the beginning don’t take this too seriously. ☺️
In The Midst Of A Journey 