Confessions of a libra

Clarity | Credit: Here

23.10.25

Work a job you love and you never have to work a day in your life, they say. It sounds ideal. Like love can cocoon you from the thorns and shackles of systems that were and truly cemented by the time you were born. Capitalism is defined as an economic and political system where the country’s trade and industry are controlled by private owners for profit. Capitalism is rooted in individualism- in the myth of meritocracy – as opposed to collectivism. Through capitalism, we believe that the poor just aren’t educated enough. The poor are a drain on social resources for needing to be assisted.

The norm becomes a healthy, able-bodied cog in a machine. Someone who comes to work, clocks in, signs a timesheet and ensures not a single toilet break is unaccounted for. Because time is money. Capitalism believes some people who chose to specialise in some subjects and receive qualifications, are important and therefore can receive more out of life. Capitalism looks at wealth inequality and says, there is a logical reason this happened and it has to do with who made the right investment at the right time.

What capitalism doesn’t want to explain to you, is how the richest countries presently are overwhelmingly build off of resources and labour from poorer countries. Whether through present practices such as having offshore ‘sweat shops’, or by displacing the civilians of mineral-rich lands as has been done in the Congo. Presently as we speak we hear a lot more about the genocide in Israel – Free Palestine every day of the week – than we hear about what is happening in the Congo. Young children slaughtered and raped, just so the West can have access to the materials in their iPhones. So we can continue to use ChatGPT.

Capitalism is soulless. It wants to present measured, logical, masculine and responsive to data not feelings. Instead the wealthy are more likely to be crooks themselves, or descendants of people who did not always make their money cleanly. The wealthy have to be somewhat removed from the day-to-day to justify being able to take a private jet to a wedding in Venice while others must walk several kilometres to the nearest borehole. We have all elevated our lives through globalisation, yet if you listen to certain voices, they will use capitalism as the poster-child for modernity. As though there is something ‘civilised’ about capitalism, as opposed to communism and traditional economies.

Capitalism is the reason your political parties use social pain points to platform on, then when elected they backtrack. With the right donation slipped in the right pocket, any value can become compromise. Capitalism is the reason you don’t see more fruit trees casually in parks and in spaces easy to reach for the local community. That is something I miss about my childhood in Zimbabwe. Nature felt like it was ours communally, not something to be drawing borders around. So how do you play the game enough, while not abandoning yourself?

It comes first from understanding oneself. Only then can you listen to the options I’m about to give, and realise which one suits you best. Firstly, you need to take a step away from this idea that your entire live revolves around work. You have to painfully make it obvious to yourself, before life gets her greedy claws in you. I would rather you start to make time to be bored, than life take a loved one away so you can realise there will always be money to earn tomorrow. I haven’t worked consecutively because I am a human being and capitalism is a cancer on the body.

I thought there was something wrong with me. Until I realised I wasn’t weaker than anyone else around me. I just had less capacity for bullshit. Or at least my body is like that, so when I entered the workforce – mind over matter just doesn’t cut it. My body has told me time and time again that every time I exist in the system, according to the recommended rubric, the only one who suffers is me. So finding what you like to do when you are not working is invaluable. I get really sad when people are unable to work because of something, for example COVID and start going crazy because they had never spent time with themselves. I get devastated when people say, they would rather work than have no work, because you cannot convince me that there is no trauma in that statement.

You can always work every day you are not employed by someone else. Imagine what that would be like to work on your own project with your own deadline. I now it’s not everyone’s dream to work for yourself, but this isn’t about that. This is about learning that you are more than what you do to drive other people’s goals forward. What goals would you set for your life is money wasn’t an option? What country would you live in? What languages would you speak? These are the things you should know so you know how to spend alone time. The second thing I recommend is regular maintenance leave. Taking long weekends while working full time, is a way of incrementally using up your accrued leave – without burning through it – and it keeps you sane.

I have also been of the mind to hoard my leave in case I ever have to leave a job unexpectedly. I have also done it to fund a future holiday, in an unspecified future location. However, just because it is the most logical thing, doesn’t mean it is the right thing to do. More than just your mind, you need to take into account the weight of compounding harm in a situation that is out of your control. You can choose to enter an industry not for passion but because you are sick of being poor and decide you want to do something more. For women, I will give you my mother’s advice where that is concerned. Always go into the male dominated industries, if you want to earn more. My portion of the advice says, only do so if you think you can take men on, because you will be the butt of jokes for just being a woman in that environment.

I don’t knock this technique. I have seen particularly with Asian friends, that some people end up going to University and even working in industries purely to please their parents. Or rather, to get their parents off their back. I am not here to police what is appropriate or courageous to do. Whatever money you earn, especially in an environment you know will weigh on you eventually, then plan your finances accordingly. In a job like that taking leave more often would be helpful or taking no leave and resigning the moments it gets a bit much. Then ride away with the money into the sunset. You always want to work smarter not harder.

I personally do this by funnelling any extra money, and any lump sums I receive any year for any reason into my HECS (student loans) and Superannuation (retirement fund). I think education is too expensive and as such I would only get a degree if I could pay for it out of pocket. The likelihood I will get a degree now grows lower as time goes on. I don’t like debt, like most people. So sovereignty and freedom to me, means not owing the government a dime. I don’t want to owe anything and I sure as hell don’t want to see how high the indexing can go, when we have already seen how high it has been the last several years. Choosing anything where investing is involved is one way of securing your future, so long as said investments are diversified. So my Super was an easy buy-in into the investment world, and at 29 I am already seeing rewards.

When I think of financial sovereignty I think of the FIRE Movement. The people that are aggressively paying down their debts, making extra income so they can retire early. I wish there was an easier, ethical way to game a system like this and not feel enslaved by it, but it requires that you work so hard and become so laser focused on what you deem freedom to be. The more we privatise, the more expensive our lives are. If you are not thinking about how you can support yourself no matter what then you are enslaved to the system. I don’t feel bad that I’ve ever needed to use Centrelink because every year I have worked, I have happily paid my taxes. I think taxes are important for any successful society.

However, I am working towards a life where I can be my own Centrelink. This is not to say double down on individualism, we will get to community-building in a moment, but it is to say don’t put your life in the hands of people that may have other agendas. Rightly or wrongly. The problem with bureaucracy is, it can sometimes miss nuance. And there is a lack of transparency a lot of times as to the limitations at hand. The people providing a service to the community may have a certain budget but prefer to funnel the funds elsewhere. We are so at the mercy of people’s moral compass in capitalism and it isn’t anywhere near a shared one.

I think housing is one issue I find deplorable as to how we are handling it in the modern world. If I had it my way, house prices would not be as high as they are. In the event that they are, there should be no restrictions on alternative housing structures as long as it doesn’t damage or injure the community in some way. For example, in Australia we have restrictions on what can be considered a dwelling. As such you may not be able to live in a campervan on land you purchased unless it’s for a set amount of days, because it’s not considered a permanent dwelling. To me these things are arbitrary. Why not? Who are you to say I should find satisfaction in a 3 bedroomed beachfront property I can’t afford in this lifetime, over a $20K tiny house I can pay off? If I don’t mind the small space, why do you?

I admire anyone working towards living off grid, I think that is a noble ambition. I think we should have a lot more community gardens, community fundraising not just for big causes but for the everyday person. Community loaning programs where everyone puts their money in to help the poorest in the community. I find a lot of symbolic companies, fundraisers and organisations than there are embodied in their ethos and application. Fundamentally, as I watch politics across the world, I think many of our issues stem from not agreeing on moral values, and some people enjoying hierarchies.

To reduce wealth inequality, it means some people can’t enjoy things exclusively anymore. It means some people won’t be able to show off with what they have and what they can do, if more of us can also have and do. I say, exist in the capitalist system but put yourself first. Take that sick day anyway, especially if you know you are legally entitled to it. Take the time off to travel and do nothing. Let yourself be bored.

When you’re thinking money and wealth building think long-term. You want to have savings in a high-interest savings account, you want to contribute to your Super and you want to invest across varied industries. It’s all about working smarter, not harder. Lastly I want to say, no one can own you unless you let them. Choosing to be too scared to engage in a system that already determines you environment is also silly. Engage but only how you want, as many times as you want and you pull away as and when you please. You are worth more than what you produce. You are limitless.