It seems that most people consider the word freedom to only pertain to physical slavery. I’ve had many conversations on the subject and have been surprised to find that some do not see having debt as a form of slavery.
In my mind, I find that laughable, but it is far from funny. Personally, I feel it is nothing more than denial and denial solves nothing. As they say, the truth shall set you free.
I think that most people know the generic definition of freedom, but let’s assume for a second that they don’t.
The Definition of Freedom
Actually there are MANY definitions found for the word freedom, but I will list just a few.
- the state of being free or at liberty rather than in confinement or under physical restraint.
- the power to determine action without restraint.
- the power to exercise choice and make decisions without constraint from within or without; autonomy; self-determination.
They are all pretty much the same right? There’s physical freedom, political freedom, debt freedom, religious freedom, and the list could go on. ANYTHING that is keeping you from doing something you want to do, is limiting your freedom—plain and simple.
The easy answer to gaining your freedom back, is to remove the obstacle to your freedom. Become the master of your freedom in every way you can. Remove the master/servant relationship from your finances by becoming debt free. The truth is that whether or not you admit you are a slave, if you have debt, you are a slave. If you have payments, those payments are keeping you from enjoying freedom on multiple levels.
By accepting debt as your master you are saying that your freedom to be and do, what you want to be and do, is not important. I find it hard to believe that anyone would take that stance knowingly. I credit it to blindly following the grain of society, as well as not mastering your ability to delay pleasure. You may have already mastered financial slavery, but I recommend that you master your freedom instead.
Life is so much better than working a job you hate simply because you cannot afford to follow your dream. Allowing your paychecks to be vehicles of debt repayment, instead of vehicles of security and wealth for you and your family, is rather unfortunate.
You deserve so much better, and the good news is that you are truly in control. You just have to grab the wheel and start driving! Take your life and your finances off of autopilot and be proactive. (Autopilot – functioning in an unthinking or reflexive manner.)
Master your freedom!
You could also say that working is slavery, regardless of what the work is. Whether one works for 25 cents an hour in another country or works for a good income here, it is slavery if it is not done as a matter of choice. While some people are able to do what they love to be self-supporting, others who try that find that what they used to love doing became something else when it was attached to making a living. I think people in general make errors in estimating their level of control. I’m not sure how much difference there is in working to pay off debts (including a mortgage) and working to pay day-to-day expenses. But your mention of security and wealth reminds me that neither of those are within reach where there is a medical system such as America’s, except perhaps for those administering that system.
A sense of autonomy and self-determination are important to me, and I do find myself fighting the system from time to time when my illusion of these things is threatened. I agree with you that slavery sucks!
I would have to very respectfully disagree with you about your first comment. I would hardly liken work to slavery. If you were to totally depend on yourself for food, as in farming your own land, that is work. It’s almost as if you are saying that working to take care of yourself and provide a life better than that of poverty is a bad thing. We have the ability to CHOOSE where we work, so that we can take care of our families the best we can. And you do have the choice to either work or not work, so it is ALWAYS a matter of choice. If you choose not to work then you still had the choice to make.
I would agree with you though on how sometimes things change when we start doing them for a living. What I am referring to however is not just something you enjoy doing but something that you are passionate about doing. That’s not to say that there won’t be something about the work that we dislike, but when you are passionate about what you are doing there is a difference.
I can tell you that there is a HUGE GIGANTIC difference, one of the most important things being that you are not paying extra for those day-to-day expenses. Having been in debt and now being debt free, I can tell you that there is a WORLD of difference. If people didn’t have huge car payments couldn’t they better afford the things you describe as not within reach?
I have to also respectfully disagree with you about our health care system. Nothing is perfect and America sure could make it better by changing some things about it, but it is by far the best health care system in the world. (People travel to America to receive the great health care that we have.) We don’t have to wait in lines, we’re never turned down, we have medicare, medicaid, and s-chip for people with low incomes, so I am not sure what else you want. I agree that prices need to come down and there are lots of things that could be done to manage that better but politics always gets in the way. We pay A LOT (over $800 a month) for our health care and I wouldn’t trade it for the world, and I am no administrator of the system btw. I am very thankful that the FREE (not really free) Government care is dead. Other systems have proven why we do not want the Government to take over our health care system.
I am sorry you have such a grim outlook on what you are capable of, but I want to say that I hope you the best. You really do have control over your life, even if you do not yet believe it. While we disagree on what slavery actually is at least we agree that slavery in general sucks. 😀
I love the idea of self-sufficiency, as in farming one’s own land and providing for the household. I’ve never done anything like it, but would have liked to have grown up that way. I am sorely lacking in real survival skills, I’m sorry to say. That is valuable work and I think it’s a great privilege to come by the skills when growing up. It’s a bit harder to acquire such skills later on, but I hope to do just that, at least to some extent. I really enjoy the self-reliance blog.
I don’t like debt at all, since there is no way to keep up when you are paying for both the past and the present with no hope for securing a future.
The health care system is great for those who do not use it, and don’t need to. In those cases, the dollar amount of exploitation is limited. One real problem is that the sky is the limit as far as charges, and it is the insured and not the insurance company that is bound to pay the charges. That’s why patients often sign forms stating that they and not the insurance company are responsible for the medical bills. My attitude on this subject is definitely grim, but plenty has been said about it without my contributions. I think it’s one of those things that if you don’t personally see it or live it, you don’t know it. And when an individual who previously thought we had a great system and then got a slap in the face, as I see sometimes, they are simply shocked.
I enjoy your blog and subscribe to the feed 🙂
Absolutely perfectly stated! 😀
Well I certainly agree that our system has it’s follies, one of which is the pre-existing condition clause. I actually understand why it was put there but think that America can do better on the matter. I also think that prices would come down dramatically if insurance could be bought across state lines, much like auto insurance. It is the lack of competition that has a lot to do with the prices, and I SURELY agree with you 100% that charges should be more transparent.
We have certainly used our health care, most recently with the birth of our 2nd son, Noah, and that saved us about $10,000, but the thing that got to me was that we would get a bill 6 months down the road and had no way of really knowing what we were being billed for. I have always disliked that, but I still don’t want America to go to other means of providing health care. Fix what’s broken, and leave the rest alone—no need for a complete change though.
Thanks for your kind and thoughtful response Yana! I always like and appreciate when two people who may disagree on things can talk about those differences respectfully. I certainly appreciate your thoughts and comments no matter what. And thank you very much for subscribing to Enemy of Debt. 😀
No slavery for me! Debt FREEDOM is real freedom!
I haven’t even become debt free yet and I have already noticed how much freedom I have in just having a day to day plan.
Recent my paycheck started being garnished from a 2 year old debt that I totally neglected, while it was still a BAD thing, I wasn’t panicked because my emergency fund was in place. I was able to think clearly about what to do to resolve the matter. I called the company and they agreed to settle the account for half the balance even after the judgment was made! Tell me about freedom and not having to be at the mercy of others to feed yourself and pay your bills when some emergency comes up!! Now thats freedom!!!!
Whats also freeing knowing the sky is actually the limit when the weight of debt is lifted off of you, opportunities come that you can only imagine. I can’t wait to have total freedom !!
Great post!!
Oh goodness this just lit another motivating fire under my butt!
I am so so so so so ready to get out from under Sallie Mae! I can’t WAIT to be the owner of my ENTIRE paycheck. I can’t wait to be the master of my decision making process rather than my monthly payments and bills!
Oh sweet freedom…I can almost reach out and touch you!!