Martin Luther King, Jr. proudly yearned of a time where African Americans could finally be free at last. The speech titled “I Have a Dream” was said during the March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom on August 28, 1963. He was speaking about the racial, civil, and economic injustices faced by the African Americans, and rightfully so.
When he first rehearsed the speech privately, many gave him the feedback that it wasn’t who he was. He had sounded too prepared and robotic that it wasn’t going to be a meaningful speech at all. It was when he improvised and spoke from the heart did the words come out.
We are all thankful for that speech. It inspired millions of people facing oppression to speak out and rise against injustice. Both racial and economic.
As a fellow minority myself, I’ve faced countless and numerous abuse based on my race. I lived in a community where I wasn’t just a minority, I was a minority of the minorities. When an older person of Asian decent came up on TV, someone would shout at me “Hey, what is your dad doing there?”
It was awful and there would be no one to defend me, because well, I was the minority of the minorities. Everyone else was supportive of that kind of racism.
While I can’t imagine how much worse or better it would have been being an African American in the 1960s, I can still understand it. Furthermore, what’s important to realize though is just how valuable the phrase “free at last” is.
So that it reverberates through your whole body, it isn’t just a good right to have. It’s a necessity. Oppression happened in the yesterday, it still happens today, and I expect it to continue happening tomorrow.
Free At Last From the Corporate Life
Imagine how much better your life would be today if you didn’t have to work. That’s freedom, where working becomes a choice. It’s an option. If you want to, you will do it but if you don’t want to, you won’t. You’re not forced to do anything, your decision is due to your own free will. Not out of necessity.
One thing that you know that I will ask for is for you to DESTROY that social share button for the Google algorithm 😊 . I want everyone to better their financial lives and live a more fruitful life. So if you could please show that share button some love, I would appreciate it. Your Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn, and Pinterest connections would get value out of my posts, so please, show them some love as well!
Back to the point. The goal of freedom applies to everywhere and it showcases how invaluable having options is. People hate when others sell to them but people love buying on their own accord. It is of their own and thought that they are making the decision, not someone else’s.
That’s the overarching theme that you should always strive for. It isn’t for material gain or for the sake of having extra dollars in the bank account. It is to spend time with the ones you love. To follow passion projects that’s interested you since you were little.
MLK didn’t want freedom for the sake of fighting back. MLK wanted freedom because it’s a right that everyone should have. In the grand scheme of things, that’s a life that is worth living. To be free from oppression and to have choices without living in fear or worry.
That’s the overarching goal of the financial independence movement. Don’t lose sight of the goal.
Understand Your Motivation
Too many people pay attention to the media and what the ultra wealthy are doing. They look at the latest shiny new toy they bought like a private jet or a huge mansion and think they need that. That’s the difference. The wealthy buy those things not because they want to consume. The wealthy buy those things for tax purposes.
That’s what most people don’t understand when they read stories such as the above. They don’t understand the true motivation behind the extravagant splurges the rich make.
After seeing those stories in the media, most people strive to be rich because they want more stuff. Because they think stuff will bring them happiness. They race to get the latest tech gadget. Even if the one that they already have works just as well.
Actually understand the underlying motivation of why of you are trying to reach financial independence. Be brutally honest with yourself. Wanting to have more stuff is completely fine. If that brings you happiness, more power to you.
However, happiness, more often than not, comes from yourself, not from external reasons like having a fully stuffed mega mansion. There’s a very high likelihood that more stuff will not bring you lasting happiness.
When I first got my Macbook, I was happy as one could be. The design looked so slick and the functionality of it was flawless. However, I was happy for about a month before life started to go back to normal.
Buying objects get you temporary happiness whether it’s for a day, month, or maybe even a year. Then it quickly wears off and becomes old. I would argue that clutter brings you less happiness over the long term.
Evaluate Your Happiness Level Today
Think about your past week that you had. When were you the happiest? Was it when you were working for somebody else and getting a paycheck? I bet you your happiness levels were the highest when you had leisure time. When you did things because you wanted to, not because you had to.
No one told you what to do, it was purely out of your motivation to pursue those things. Whether it’s sitting down on the couch and day dreaming or pursuing your passion projects, you were happiest then.
So then ask yourself the question, “what if you could do it every day?” Imagine being free at last of all of the bureaucracy, red tape, bad bosses, bad coworkers, etc. And at the end of the day all the people you spend time with are your loved ones. The ones you actually like passing the time with.
Doesn’t that sound amazing? That is the Pictionary life that we should all be striving towards. I’ve heard of so many people saying “you should follow your passion, then you’ll never work a day in your life.” No.
There’s no way your passion is to work hard to help someone else build their dreams instead of yours. Do a good job at work and do above and beyond work so you get promoted faster than normal. However, understand that there are more important things in life that should be the primary focus.
Break free from the golden shackles that is working for the corporate world. It should always be a temporary solution to a long term problem, never the reverse. At the end of the day, the company cares more about their bottom line than you. It’s time for you to do the same, it’s only fair.
Be Free at Last, Employees are Oppressed
Whether we want to admit it or not, there are countless ways that employees are oppressed. Many many people don’t know this, but discrimination based on age is actually legal according to federal law. The law outlawing age discrimination is titled “Age Discrimination in Employment Act of 1967”.
At first glance of reading the title, you may think that is fantastic! That protects people of ALL ages. Right? Wrong. The act is purposefully titled as such and is a classic Orwellian doublespeak that is prevalent in countless laws. If you actually read into the law, it only protects workers over the age of 40, not under.
The Age Discrimination in Employment Act (ADEA) forbids age discrimination against people who are age 40 or older. It does not protect workers under the age of 40, although some states have laws that protect younger workers from age discrimination.
Source: EEOC
Meaning discrimination based on age is still legal for certain groups of people today. We are legally allowed to be oppressed! It is one of many reasons why we should fight to be free at last.
Take the necessary steps. Don’t spend as much as you think you need to spend. Every day is another day you can be closer to this goal.
