stressFREEDOM vs. career
Epicurus considered that it was a true opinion to believe that happiness was to be found in the simple life and retirement, a false opinion to think it lay in wealth, power, or glory – so it is normal for us Epicureans to be unambitious in money- and power-related issues.
Other cultures are less congruent: they preach e.g. that “The love of money is the root of all evil.” [1. Tim. 6, 10] and that “It is as easy for a camel to pass through the eye of a needle as it is for a rich man to enter the kingdom of God” [Matthew 19:23]. And yet they are surprised if somebody takes their moral rules seriously and tries to follow them.
I grew up in another hypocritical culture under the so called communist state religion. Money was less of an issue there than “power and glory”. They preached the equality of all but in practice they produced a new privileged class for the few.
At 16 I wanted to become a journalist and started working for a youth weekly. It soon turned out that the censors can turn an article or a report to the contrary of what I wanted to say. They also expected me to join the communist party and follow 2 or 4 year courses of ideological “studies”. So at 17 I gave up this career plan of mine.
At the University they proposed that I do postgraduate studies and join the faculty. This could have implied an obligatory communist party membership and being an informant of the secret police (giving them information about my friends, neighbors, colleagues, even family members) so I chose to go to a village and teach there. As long as you did not aspire to a leading position you could get along and stay honest at the same time.
We meet at class reunions and those who chose to collaborate with a régime they actually hated do not seem to be happy or satisfied. Many of them turned to alcohol, some of them committed suicide. Some are simply ostracized.
Some of us managed to flee to West Europe or America or Israel. The majority of these ex school mates fell victim to the rat race and now they are either burned out (if they were “financially successful”) or consider themselves losers and feel ashamed of it.
A minority of 5-10% refused to bargain their tranquility for money resp. status and power - no matter whether they went on living under the communist state religion or opted to follow the capitalist state religion. They are artists or craftspeople or small entrepreneurs.
I wonder if the decision is any easier today for those young people who are aware of the option to choose stressFREEDOM instead of career.
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