Vacation Time

Vacation time is different from work time. These are the differences for me:

• I can go to bed when I am tired and I can wake up when I have had enough sleep.
• No emails. Well, okay, I have checked in a few times, but at my leisure as opposed to Blackberry screen sucking every few minutes.
• There is no calendar and the day is not marked by a fixed schedule of meetings.
• I can play video games with my sons whenever I please. Ghost Recon on xbox 360 is getting a lot of airplay.
• I can read books during the day.
• Getting things done. I have finished several items from my job jar and I have this unusual sense of accomplishment.
• Spontaneity. If an ad hoc activity presents itself, I can go. Yesterday, my oldest son wanted to go to the Apple Store. No need to book something in the calendar 3 or 4 weeks out.
• Personal freedom. I do not live by a clock.
• And, I do not spend 2 or 3 hours a day in a grinding, mind numbing commute.

I have been doing some reading on the Middle Ages and serfdom. Wikipedia defines serfdom this way: Serfdom is the forced labour of serfs, on the fields of the privileged land owners, in return for protection and the right to work on their leased fields.

For what it is worth, here is one perspective on the new serfdom. A radical view and it does not reflect my own thoughts on the nature of contemporary society. Unfortunately, I do see some evidence that our modern system looks similar to an old system. I seem to notice it more when I am on vacation time.

A comparison of freedoms between the serfs of the Middle Ages and the average person of today reveals striking similarities. Personal freedoms once taken for granted have been so thoroughly negated by those in command they are now increasingly meaningless. Life and death control over humanity has been refined with the advancement of technologies promoting disease and destruction, as well as the willingness of governments to use these technologies, as they deem necessary to maintain superiority or instill fear. Our system of elected representation has now become so corrupted; it no longer serves the needs of people, but has instead furthered the erosion of the basic rights it is sworn to protect. The once free market economic system has been manipulated to become profitable only for those already holding power and wealth, while offering a lifetime of labor without appreciable gain for the vast majority of participants. Our educational systems have ceased to teach the skills necessary for success and individual thought, but are now serving as mind control training camps for the next generation of slaves.

Under the new feudal system, the masses are placated using numerous methods. Television, video games, popular music, and professional sports provide mind-numbing distractions. Alcohol, drugs and gross immorality further numb the general population to the harsh reality of our condition. Subtle, as well as overt forms of mind control are also used to discourage any resistance that would otherwise instinctively occur. Fear has been used to cement controls and implement greater restraints of freedom. Now that we have arrived at this new serfdom, few individuals actually recognize it exists, since they have been controlled, misled or distracted.

Via.