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Isn't it sad that we sell ourselves in the market like products? Up for sale to the highest bidder in this world so focused on what shouldn't matter?
Isn’t it sad that we sell ourselves in the market like products? Up for sale to the highest bidder in this world so focused on what shouldn’t matter?
Why does everything have a price tag? The water we drink, the food we eat, and even the people we meet! Even me My salary is my price tag And I feel like an object a product for sale in the market I hate it and yet, this is “normal”
Owned, objectified, and dehumanized dehumanized enough to create a “CV” to list my “accomplishments” accomplishments of what? Of the people I inspired? the lives I touched? Of my battles with depression and my ongoing struggle to regain my self-confidence?
Or of some insignificant job I was in many years ago? Of the many excel sheets I made for some project? Of the emails I sent from an ID I don’t even have access to anymore? Or of the PowerPoint presentations I don’t even remember about anymore?
Isn’t it sad that we sell ourselves in the market like products? Up for sale to the highest bidder
And ready to work at a below-average price? For a job and a person we may not even like In an environment we know nothing about Yet, this is “normal” It is the way it is
Why is it “normal” to refer to me as a CTC? A “cost” to the company So insulting, degrading, and outrageous Yet I feel trapped, lost, and find it impossible to escape this madness
This is a mad mad world where we are meant to eat, breathe, and drink our work where someone else’s dream is supposed to be mine Where I am supposed to help fill someone else’s pockets while also filling mine Where most of what I earn gets eaten up in rent and food What do even I have left? What do I do now?
If this isn’t slavery, tell me what is? It is a slavery of the mind, body, and soul an affront to creativity, ingenuity, and of freedom
“Work is worship,” they say, but worship what? Money? “In work, you will find joy,” they say, but then why I am still unhappy? Do not fool me and tell me that this is “valuable” because it isn’t For if I work, I will work for myself to hone my creative energies, passions, and interests
“Value” for me is not monetary It is spiritual, emotional, and cultural It is kindness, love, and empathy Not some rat race to nowhere
So please, spare me the horror and don’t tell me this is “normal” because it isn’t, at least not for me Slavery is not normal, and I refuse to take part in it Yet, I have no choice…
Image source: CanvaPro
Kanav is, as of June 2021, pursuing his Master's in Development from Azim Premji University, Bangalore. He identifies as queer for personal and political reasons and can be contacted via https://www.linkedin.com/ read more...
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