They tell you to work hard.
They tell you to dream big.
They tell you one day it’ll all pay off.
But here you are—staring at the screen, sending off another soulless job application into the abyss, or worse, clocking into a job you hate just to survive.
The world dangles a carrot in front of your nose and kicks you when you try to grab it.
Welcome to the modern job market—an absurd, soul-crushing, never-ending rat race.
Camus and Sartre saw it coming. They warned us, wrapped their existential dread in fancy French words, and handed it down to us.
But we ignored them. We dressed up our cages, slapped motivational quotes on our desks, and called it a career.
And for what?
A paycheck that vanishes the moment it hits your account?
A pension that may or may not exist by the time you need it?
The promise that, if you just keep running, someday you might escape?
The Absurd Machinery: 7 Ways the System is Rigged
1. The Education Scam: Grooming Good Little Workers
School didn’t prepare you for life. It prepared you to follow orders, regurgitate information, and get really good at sitting still for long periods of time.
Thinking for yourself? Dangerous. Questioning authority? Even worse.
They sold us the lie that good grades = good job = good life.
But now you’re here, degree in hand, drowning in student debt, applying for jobs that ask for “entry-level experience” and pay just enough to keep you alive but never ahead.
Funny, isn’t it?
2. The Finance Industry: The House Always Wins
“Invest! Save! Be responsible!” they say, wagging their fingers like schoolteachers scolding a child who spent their lunch money on candy.
They tell you to work hard, to be disciplined, to tighten your belt—meanwhile, they loosen theirs, reclining in boardrooms, making decisions that shift markets and crush livelihoods in a single afternoon.
Banks don’t want you wealthy; they want you just afloat.
Drowning is bad for business, but swimming too far? Even worse.
They make their money on your borrowed time—your mortgage, your student loans, your car payments. The longer you owe, the richer they grow.
Credit card companies love your ambition. They watch you swipe for groceries and gas, nodding approvingly as you carry a balance, charging you interest that compounds faster than your paycheck can keep up.
They send you cheerful emails: “Congratulations! We’ve increased your credit limit.” A little more rope for the leash.
And the stock market? The grand casino. They tell you it’s the key to wealth, that you too can play the game—just buy and hold, be patient, trust the system.
But the system was never meant to be fair. When the tide turns, the big players cash out first, and you?
You’re left staring at the numbers, watching your dreams of financial security vanish like steam off a city sidewalk.
Ever notice how the rich never “budget” their way to wealth?
They don’t waste time clipping coupons or debating whether to buy a $5 coffee. They own assets. They own businesses. They own the system itself.
And you? You own an app that lets you check your bank balance ten times a day, wondering how you’re still behind.
3. The Self-Improvement Hustle: The Goalposts Keep Moving
“You’re not working hard enough.”
“You’re not thinking positively enough.”
“You just need this one course, this one book, this one secret to unlock success.”
Self-improvement culture has turned into a never-ending treadmill.
You’re always one step away from greatness—but somehow, you never get there.
And the gurus? They’re making millions selling you the illusion that you can be like them.
4. The Job Market: Security as a Leash
The corporate world preaches “stability” and “career growth.”
What they mean is:
- We’ll pay you just enough to stay.
- We’ll give you benefits just good enough to make leaving risky.
- We’ll demand your time, your energy, your sanity—because you should be grateful to have a job at all.
Ever hear someone say they “love” their job? Either they own the company, or they’re lying.
5. The Media Machine: Keep Scrolling, Stay Distracted
They want you angry, scared, entertained—anything but aware.
You scroll. You rage. You debate strangers online about things you can’t control. Meanwhile, the real players—corporations, governments, billionaires—keep doing whatever the hell they want.
And you? You go to bed exhausted, convinced you’ve been productive because you kept up with the news.
6. The Illusion of Fairness: The Game Was Never Meant for You
“Work hard and you’ll succeed.”
Nice thought, but tell that to the single mom working three jobs, or the factory worker who put in 40 years just to retire broke.
The truth is, most people don’t “fail” because they’re lazy. They fail because the game is rigged to make sure they never win.
7. The Grand Distraction: The Dream of Escaping the Rat Race
The biggest scam? The idea that if you just hustle hard enough, you can “break free.”
You know who really breaks free?
- The ones born rich.
- The ones who own the game, not just play it.
- The ones who figured out how to make you keep running while they sit back and collect the profits.
But hey, keep grinding. Maybe one day you’ll be one of the lucky ones.
III. The Table of Doom (A Summary for the Disillusioned)
| System | How It Screws You |
|---|---|
| Education | Trains obedience, not independence |
| Finance | Profits from your debt and failure |
| Self-Improvement | Sells the illusion of progress |
| Job Market | Keeps you trapped in “stability” |
| Media | Distracts, outrages, pacifies |
| Fairness Myth | Pretends hard work leads to success |
| The Escape Fantasy | Keeps you running in place |
You know all this, and yet, tomorrow morning, you’ll still set your alarm.
You’ll still show up. You’ll still play along.
Not because you believe in it. But because the alternative—dropping out, going off-grid, rejecting it all—sounds just a little too impossible, doesn’t it?
Camus called it the absurd. Sartre called it bad faith. You can call it whatever you want.
But if you’re waiting for the system to change, you’re wasting your time.
The machine doesn’t break down on its own. It runs until the cogs stop turning.
So what do you do?
That’s the real question, isn’t it?
Now go set that alarm. Or don’t. Either way, the rat race doesn’t care.
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