Why the Caged Bird Sings
I've lived in a highly-regulated nation for some time now; most of my decades have been spent here and by now I must be thoroughly decadent. But this experience is one which has always made me look at the title of Maya Angelou's book with a slightly cynical gaze.
The birds here are not really caged. Many of the birds are free to fly. The real cage comprises three familiar elements: 1) it is comfortable to remain here as long as you're not vastly interested in the world beyond; 2) safe, regular and stable environments are preferred to unknown and possibly chaotic substitutes; 3) perception is everything, and that is a matter of the mindset. So: comfort, stability, perception.
But what if you heard something like this?
"Your small apartment is worth US$150k. You could emigrate and buy a proper house and a better class of cultural life for that sum. You could get a better-paying job, and with some clever and legal manipulations, you could get a better tax regime and a comfortable retirement fund. Come to [insert adjective] [insert country name] and enjoy your new life!"
You see, every place is a cage, and the cages are now competing for individuals, who are acting more and more like miniature sovereign wealth funds. In an ideal world, the birds would fly free. In such a world, however, the birds would leave random residual deposits everywhere, with little nett efficiency. Perhaps it is not such a good idea to let birds fly too freely.
So here I sit. I am beginning to think that if everyone is caged, even in the 'Land of the Free', then nobody is really caged. I should just sing because I feel free. And if nobody is really caged, perhaps I am free indeed.
The birds here are not really caged. Many of the birds are free to fly. The real cage comprises three familiar elements: 1) it is comfortable to remain here as long as you're not vastly interested in the world beyond; 2) safe, regular and stable environments are preferred to unknown and possibly chaotic substitutes; 3) perception is everything, and that is a matter of the mindset. So: comfort, stability, perception.
But what if you heard something like this?
"Your small apartment is worth US$150k. You could emigrate and buy a proper house and a better class of cultural life for that sum. You could get a better-paying job, and with some clever and legal manipulations, you could get a better tax regime and a comfortable retirement fund. Come to [insert adjective] [insert country name] and enjoy your new life!"
You see, every place is a cage, and the cages are now competing for individuals, who are acting more and more like miniature sovereign wealth funds. In an ideal world, the birds would fly free. In such a world, however, the birds would leave random residual deposits everywhere, with little nett efficiency. Perhaps it is not such a good idea to let birds fly too freely.
So here I sit. I am beginning to think that if everyone is caged, even in the 'Land of the Free', then nobody is really caged. I should just sing because I feel free. And if nobody is really caged, perhaps I am free indeed.
Labels: Life, Politics, Reflections
etched with acid at 9:19:00 am
1 Comments:
Cocks crow each dawn, but no one cares in this age of alarm clocks. Worthless, arrogant idiots. Crows caw when you least expect it, making you drop your coffee. Inconsiderate, macabre bastards.
IMHO, blackbirds like us shouldn't sing; it scares the crap out of the unsuspecting, and gives away our lofty hiding places.
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