I don’t mean just consumer credit card debt, but count that
as well, I’m talking about a specialty market-variety, pick-your-flavor-combination
kind of debt—bills from the ER (since I have neither health
insurance nor the sense to use a fake name and address), student
loan debt, gym membership debt, and even something as silly as
wisdom tooth debt—I had to charge the removal of my wisdom
teeth to a credit card created specifically for dental work. Such
depression leads to the realization that if you ever want to own
a house or even qualify for a cell phone that’s not prepaid,
you had better start looking only for work that pays you well
and includes full benefits. This, however, leads to yet another
dilemma: the marginalization of values.
At this juncture, the pedestal on which you once placed your hard-learned
values and morals now sets somewhere in the sewer because you
are suddenly in relentless pursuit of money. You have debt. Debt
has interest. Everyone is advising we get rid of debt as soon
as possible. So you need money. You can’t just have enough
money to pay bills because, well, you’re in your 20s and
you gotta have fun. So you need money. You can’t do all
that and then live at home. Gotta get your own place. So you need
money. Money is now the primary motivating factor in your job
search, in fact, it’s just your primary motivating factor
in life. You start to think of all the crazy ways you can make
money—looking at every thing with a capitalist, exploitative
slant. You begin to wonder why you didn’t go to medical
school or law school or even business school. Something that would
command a better salary than you currently earn as an Editorial
Assistant. Why journalism, you begin to ask yourself. No one even
practices good journalism anymore. At this point, you reevaluate
your skill set. You might feel the need to go to grad school,
accrue more debt, try to get more money to pay more bills and….congratulations,
your life is hell before you’re 30. You live in a real live
money pit. Your free will suddenly is not so free anymore—more
like a dictatorship whose hunger is only quieted with bills paid
in full and cleared debts. My horoscope also advised me not to
worry, for I would soon taste the sweetness of free will. I can’t
wait.
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