Vicious Cycle versus Virtuous Circle!

This theme brings me right to the idea, the image of the rat drum that rotates and where mice and other rodents “exercise” without stopping.

This is typically the Vicious Cycle par excellence, where successive iterations of the cycle lead to more of the same, usually to a succession of events, which are almost never under our control; according to Wikipedia, “A vicious circle will continue in the direction of its momentum until an external factor intervenes to break the cycle.”

Interesting the perspective, of the need for the existence of an external factor to interrupt this succession of facts and events.

Examples of this Vicious Cycle are several, which we can point out, hyperinflation, depression, poverty, some toxic relationships, and, in my opinion, the cycle of employment and/or work, working for someone else who pays you a wage!

I see this, unfortunately, every day, in my current work/employment relationship. I work as Head of Service, or if you want, Head of Production, in a small/medium factory of “Passamanarias,” more specifically, a narrow weaving factory.

It is true that I even have some extra conditions of benefits, for example, a salary slightly better than the minimum wage, a different status, and a 3-seater van of the company for personal use; I have about 40 years of experience and work in the area; I have technical knowledge that gives me the possibility of “having in hand” some claiming power!

When I think of my fellow workers, I necessarily see the Vicious Cycle there! They need to go back to work, day after day because they (and I too!) have the need for the salary at the end of the month! They receive a meager salary and, despite the dissatisfaction very present on their faces, they must continue carrying on, running after the “carrot” that the system shows and entices them until the next end of the month comes! It all looks like a Vicious Cycle!

The importance of keeping workers “controlled” in this way is fundamental to the system in place. Low wages, mandatory minimum wage (MMW), and yes, I stress the mandatory because if it were not so, they would even be lower!

How can I explain and agree, that a worker already with 5+ years of home and experience, who performs the functions of “the man in charge”, continues to earn the MMW, just like the new colleagues who enter the company for the first time and know little or even nothing about the job!

I ask, even though it is a rhetorical question: why do these situations exist? If I could answer my own question, the answer would be obvious: this is because it works!!

I would say, it gives way to the whole system that constitutes our present society, to factories, banks, insurance companies, pharmaceutical companies, the very government itself of the nation, with all the necessary taxes, etc., etc.

As I read a saying very recently, I no longer remember who said it, but it went like this: “People without any need are not controllable”!

And this reminds me of the stories that I heard from our Brazilian brothers, where the worker performs his function in the morning and in the afternoon no longer appears at work because what he has earned in the morning is enough for his very small needs! He can already buy the glass of beer and the food he and his family needs! He doesn’t need anything else!

Blessed are these people, I say, for they have no strings attached, and so no need for anything else! No one convinces them to commit, to influence them to buy stuff they don’t care of!

Perhaps a contradiction arises here, for this will also be a Vicious Cycle! Yes, I can even agree with that, but it’s a simplified cycle, much easier to control!

Now changing the subject, my future aspiration is undoubtedly to create a lifestyle like this, call it minimalist, or something else; what I want is a simple life, where I really do what I like, and I am not dominated by any system, person, or organization! I earn my money the way I want and in the desired amount!

I know this is possible, and so I’m taking steps and acting in this direction!

Remember the Wikipedia excerpt, a few lines above, where it says that to end the Vicious Cycle, there must be an external factor that puts an end to it; for that factor, in my case, is the knowledge of the facts, the continuous learning, investing on myself, taking concerted actions towards my goals and my enormous will to change!

One day I will get there, I am sure of it, for hope is always the last to die!

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