From a conversation with a friend:
i’m also sensing a strong the system is broken vibes around money and having privilege to follow your dreams.. the guy she’s casually seeing wants to be a full-time writer and has the monetary means to make it happen. The dynamic around privilege to chase your dreams and having to abide by capitalism can feel very overwhelming. I feel like a lot of people around my age are wrestling with the question of capitalism and what it makes us want to do. Friends who are benefitting from capitalism question the meaning for their existence, especially when they make boatloads of money even for the days where they binge netflix. Friends who are held captive by capitalism rage against the world and struggle for survival while yearning for fulfillment. Everyone, regardless of whether they benefit or are damaged by capitalism, has a rocky relationship with the beast. It’s like a untameable stallion. One day you think you’ve conquered its fierce mane, and the next it’s thrown you to the curb with a kick of overwhelming force.
Interestingly, the media that most illuminates this that comes to mind is a lot of korean ones like squid game and Parasite. Squid Game shows how so many people’s lives are controlled by money—their need for money supersedes all their other needs and is the root of all their problems. Parasite highlights the differences in mindset and attention in the daily lives of those who must make money to survive and those who use money as a crutch for growth.
This is the 56th installment in my experiment of publishing raw, lightly edited mini-essays every day towards achieving 100 public pieces. Check out the rationale and the full list here.