Tell me what actual benefit you receive from living the "normal"
lifestyle - a 2-hour commute to work each day, spending 8 hours
in a corporate cubicle that removes your individuality and
creativity, to receive a paycheck from which the government has
taken its huge and undeserved bite from leaving almost enough to
cover your bills and expenses - just so that you can live in the
kind of house and drive the kind of car that your friends and
relatives think you should live in and be driving.  We all must
admit that for some strange reason we don't really understand,
we feel a profound sense of accomplishment when we get approved
for a mortgage, get a new credit card, or get the "big
promotion" at work. There is a scene in the movie Brazil, (a
version of 1984), in which Michael Palin lifts his mask as he is
about to begin torturing Jonathan Pryce and says glibly,
"Confess quick - you don't want to ruin your credit rating!"  We
strive, we sacrifice health, family, and well-being for the
opportunity to be a better