Thoughts on the Rat Race (1/13)

Today we begin a series of 13 articles on the phenomenon that lies at the very heart of any approach to achieving financial independence : there Rat Race. Literally, the rat race. You have to imagine this little laboratory animal moving around in its cage, under the effect of the various drugs injected. At the end of the tunnel, death always awaits it. That's when they open its belly, take out its viscera and analyze the effects of the various treatments it has undergone.

Figuratively speaking, the rat race represents the human being lost in the maze of consumer society. Voluntarily or not, he also receives chemical treatments. But unlike the rat, he is not only manipulated by drugs, but also, and above all, by ideas. Marketing, fashion, politics, information overload, social networks, advertising, internet tracking, connected objects… today the consumer has outclassed the rat in all areas of experimentation. He no longer has any escape.

The Human Rat Race: Unlimited Needs

Thanks to digital technology, information arrives and leaves him constantly. At home, at his office, on the road, in his pocket, on his wrist and even while he sleeps... Worse, unlike the rat, whose needs remain primary and material, the needs of the human being are unlimited. Beyond simply eating, drinking, sleeping and reproducing, he also has social and fulfillment needs. These are more difficult to satisfy than the first.

To satisfy all his desires, whether aroused or not, human beings must, in the consumer society, pay for them and therefore work. The more he consumes, the more he pays and therefore the more he works himself to the limit. Very often, he even has to work more and more to afford the same good or service because of the decline in his purchasing power. We are therefore witnessing a vicious circle of work-consumption. This pushes Western Man to do more and more to acquire what he needs or rather what he believes he needs.

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