40-year-old forum user: avoid mortgages and wage slavery
A Spanish forum user argues against labor slavery, rejecting mortgages and banks unless retaining 90% of generated wealth.
English · Original discussion in Spanish · Published
At 40: no mortgage, work hard only for yourself
A 40-year-old user on a Spanish forum does the math and reaches an uncomfortable conclusion about salaried work. His manifesto, circulated among employees and met with harsh criticism, boils down to three ideas. No binding mortgages. No borrowing from banks. And working hard only if 90% of the wealth you generate stays in your pocket. Everything else is, by his definition, slavery with a payslip. The replies have not been kind, but they haven't managed to debunk him either.
The 90% rule and productivity backfiring
The point that raises the most eyebrows is effort. The argument holds that self-help theories and hard work are useless when the system is rigged, and that burning out at your job often leads to layoffs. The circulating material includes a specific case: a warehouse where 33 pallets were unloaded in record time under the boss's watch, with the warning that loading a truck with the wrong destination can cost thousands of euros[/I] and cause delays passed on to the company.
Some boast about colleagues obsessed with increasing productivity, describing them as people who don't understand that if productivity rises too much, the company cuts staff. They kill themselves just to get fired. The repeated word is drudge: someone who works excessively without control over the fruit of their labor.
Is a mortgage slavery or a lever to make money?
It depends on who you ask, and both answers circulate with equal confidence. One school of thought claims signing a mortgage means handing freedom to the bank. The opposing view responds that borrowing money at a key moment isn't a mistake, but a lever: some claim a loan allowed them to grow their assets, and their only debt today is the interest generated by that operation.
In between lies the argument that unsettles those saying no: if you don't take a mortgage, you're giving away your money to the landlord of the flat you rent. This debate remains unresolved.
Civil servants, suits, and politics: distrust as method
The advice comes with warnings. Those who become civil servants or live off public funds shouldn't consider themselves superior to anyone, because their quality of life relies, according to this view, on the work of others. Distrust extends to those always wearing suits and ties—politicians, lawyers, advisors, real estate agents—under suspicion that they are hiding something.
It reaches politics: voting doesn't matter when you're a wage earner, because politicians aren't there to help you. Here appears the most uncomfortable reply: if there are fewer contributors, what money pays for pensions? The question hangs in the air, with no comfortable answer for either side.
Body, partner, low profile: the complete package
The manual doesn't stop at work issues. There are health tips—sports, iron levels, zero alcohol, zero processed food, cooking at home, and avoiding delivery—, a warning aimed at heterosenshetero men regarding partner choice, which according to his approach can complicate life as much as the State or an employer, and a recommendation for a low profile: no social media, no showing off, no traveling for appearances.
Against this appears the realistic counterpoint of retirement: waking up early, seeing the gray day and traffic jams of commuters, and going back to bed. Also, someone who says he only felt fulfilled buying a second-hand shirt for 2 euros and unloading a truck for free. And a warning that sounds like common sense: two don't fight if one doesn't want to.
What is a day of your life worth?
The reasoning closes with a figure launched by another participant: according to his calculation, a workday is worth 366 euros, leading to the cheeky question: if he earned 7,000 euros, would he be equally happy? The doubt is the usual one and remains unanswered: if the problem is the system and not individual effort, it's unclear who is being asked to change.
The text encourages helping those struggling and maintains that there are many good people, although another participant replies that there are fewer every day. It leaves the reader with the task of figuring out which side they are on. That's exactly where the analysis gets stuck: criticism of the system is accompanied by personal advice and a 90% threshold.
A 40-year-old user on a Spanish forum does the math and reaches an uncomfortable conclusion about salaried work. His manifesto, circulated among employees and met with harsh criticism, boils down to three ideas. No binding mortgages. No borrowing from banks. And working hard only if 90% of the wealth you generate stays in your pocket. Everything else is, by his definition, slavery with a payslip. The replies have not been kind, but they haven't managed to debunk him either.
The 90% rule and productivity backfiring
The point that raises the most eyebrows is effort. The argument holds that self-help theories and hard work are useless when the system is rigged, and that burning out at your job often leads to layoffs. The circulating material includes a specific case: a warehouse where 33 pallets were unloaded in record time under the boss's watch, with the warning that loading a truck with the wrong destination can cost thousands of euros[/I] and cause delays passed on to the company.
Some boast about colleagues obsessed with increasing productivity, describing them as people who don't understand that if productivity rises too much, the company cuts staff. They kill themselves just to get fired. The repeated word is drudge: someone who works excessively without control over the fruit of their labor.
Is a mortgage slavery or a lever to make money?
It depends on who you ask, and both answers circulate with equal confidence. One school of thought claims signing a mortgage means handing freedom to the bank. The opposing view responds that borrowing money at a key moment isn't a mistake, but a lever: some claim a loan allowed them to grow their assets, and their only debt today is the interest generated by that operation.
In between lies the argument that unsettles those saying no: if you don't take a mortgage, you're giving away your money to the landlord of the flat you rent. This debate remains unresolved.
Civil servants, suits, and politics: distrust as method
The advice comes with warnings. Those who become civil servants or live off public funds shouldn't consider themselves superior to anyone, because their quality of life relies, according to this view, on the work of others. Distrust extends to those always wearing suits and ties—politicians, lawyers, advisors, real estate agents—under suspicion that they are hiding something.
It reaches politics: voting doesn't matter when you're a wage earner, because politicians aren't there to help you. Here appears the most uncomfortable reply: if there are fewer contributors, what money pays for pensions? The question hangs in the air, with no comfortable answer for either side.
Body, partner, low profile: the complete package
The manual doesn't stop at work issues. There are health tips—sports, iron levels, zero alcohol, zero processed food, cooking at home, and avoiding delivery—, a warning aimed at heterosenshetero men regarding partner choice, which according to his approach can complicate life as much as the State or an employer, and a recommendation for a low profile: no social media, no showing off, no traveling for appearances.
Against this appears the realistic counterpoint of retirement: waking up early, seeing the gray day and traffic jams of commuters, and going back to bed. Also, someone who says he only felt fulfilled buying a second-hand shirt for 2 euros and unloading a truck for free. And a warning that sounds like common sense: two don't fight if one doesn't want to.
What is a day of your life worth?
The reasoning closes with a figure launched by another participant: according to his calculation, a workday is worth 366 euros, leading to the cheeky question: if he earned 7,000 euros, would he be equally happy? The doubt is the usual one and remains unanswered: if the problem is the system and not individual effort, it's unclear who is being asked to change.
The text encourages helping those struggling and maintains that there are many good people, although another participant replies that there are fewer every day. It leaves the reader with the task of figuring out which side they are on. That's exactly where the analysis gets stuck: criticism of the system is accompanied by personal advice and a 90% threshold.
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Summary of a discussion on Burbuja.info - Foro de economía, actualidad y política., translated from Spanish and reviewed before publication. Read the full discussion (125 replies).
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