Nothing Much Has Changed!!!

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Of course, slavery is still very much in vogue. It happens illegally in certain places, and in other places, the people have a nice name for it. And sadly, the less privileged are always the ones who suffer from this. People travel to a different country illegally, and for that, they can’t get good jobs, they’re always on the run from the law, and always living in hiding.

Such people easily get trafficked, they are forced to do inhumane jobs, and even end up being sex workers. For many, their valid documents are withheld from them by those unscrupulous individuals, and they basically live in slavery.

Of course, this instance is all illegal, and law enforcement agencies usually do their best to crack down on such establishments. However, there is still a form of slavery that’s very much legal. And that’s called Job! Of course, not all jobs can be considered as a form of modern-day slavery. But when you think about it, a lot of jobs that exist do nothing to help the common man.

You make just enough money to take care of your family and pay the bills, and by the time that’s done, you’ll have little to nothing left for savings or investments. You’re doing jobs you don’t like or enjoy, simply because you have bills to pay. You pay so much in taxes that it’s a wonder we have anything left. Everything you buy and use is taxed, and the services you pay for and provide are taxed. Assets and liabilities are taxed. Even the water and the trash in your yard are taxed. It’s as if we live to always pay these bills.

Isn’t this what slavery was about back in the day? You didn’t have much choice in what you did, and today, that’s the case. You have to do messed-up jobs for messed-up pay. And still, you don’t even get to keep all the pay because government, insurance companies, and billing companies will come for their cut. It’s just crazy.

Now, I’m not saying that I’m against jobs or paying taxes; these are important pillars of society, and without them, society will most likely be ruined. We also need a source of livelihood to make money to take care of our needs and those of our families. We have to pay our taxes to keep society running smoothly and the infrastructure going as planned.

And then, there are many companies that actually treat their workers well. There are companies with good benefits that think about those who work for them. Companies with good HMO, savings and investment schemes, and also a space to grow and learn. There are many companies like that out there. But the queue to get in there is always long, and many times, connections are what determine who gets in.

Sadly, we also have a lot of companies that don’t seem to care about the welfare of their workers. They have insane work hours and crazy work conditions. Almost zero benefits and nothing at all that will motivate and help workers to grow. Imagine companies that will penalize you if you turn up to work even five minutes late, then they refuse to pay you extra when they make you work overtime. What about companies that refuse their workers sick leave?

There are some jobs you’ll be doing where you’ll feel the air leaving your lungs. It’s stifling you and choking all the life and joy out of you. Yet, you have to keep going, you have to keep turning up. Even though you hate it. Even though you know it’s keeping you stuck. You’ve got bills to pay and people to look out for. So, you keep working. If you want more money, you work harder, you work longer.

It’s a vicious cycle that goes on and on, and if we’re not careful, it won’t stop until we die. So, if this is not a form of slavery for many people, then I don’t know what is. It’s just sad that we can’t do anything to avoid it. Whether we like it or not, we have to work. We have to pay bills and pay taxes. We can only hope that we work in a place that actually cares about its people.

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_{Thank you for reading. Feel free to share your thoughts in the comments below, I would love to know what you’re thinking. Till we meet in the next post.}

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_{This post is inspired by the third topic of this week which is Modern Day Slavery. Feel free to try it out.}

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_{N.B: All images used in this post are mine. The thumbnail was designed using Canva.}

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