How do we become more independent - work-wise, life-wise, financially - in the times when everything becomes more and more controlled? How do we ensure our survival in the world that can turn from "normal" into something truly sinister (like in all those films we so love to watch) any day now? Where does one even start preparing for who knows what? What do we do if human society becomes cashless and every step online and offline is traced and controlled by various agencies? Is it even bad to be watched, or is it OK? Maybe many of us are just paranoid where there's nothing to worry about?
These are difficult questions and I do not have an answer, but I have a couple of suggestions that I am now implementing in my own life.
First, a person can be easily controlled and influenced only by the absence or presence of something he or she can't live without, something essential. Knowing this, every one of us should ask, "What is essential to me?"
The truth is that today the life of an average human being is filled with material, physical, informational, and entertainment JUNK that no one really needs. People have developed dependencies on things, ideas, food, and even info-products that are totally non-essential to human survival, and even worse - are making the survival of true humanity barely possible.
One example: in the so-called "western society" many of us, even the ones that fall into the low-income or "poor" category, have grown (or I should say have degraded) into the sad state of over-spending. I won't be exaggerating when I say we all have become consumerists to some extent. By consuming too much, spending too much even when we don't have the means we become more dependent on the money. An average person in the U.S. is literally buried by the stuff he or she has accumulated over time, most of it just sitting there and being unused or being trash. A simple solution - consume less of the stuff you don't really need (clothes, gadgets, beauty products, home decor, a new coffee mug on the shelf with 30 other mugs just sitting there, too much junk food, too many vitamins and supplements, souvenirs, kitchen equipment, mobile apps, computer games, another bag or backpack that will be just sitting in the closet, etc.) to decrease your dependency on money. If we buy only the essential things that actually have use, money won't be such a huge control factor in the big scheme of things.
Another example has to do with where our attention and time goes. Everyone is worried about the money, but why are we not just as concerned about attention and time? There are literally hundreds and thousands of info and entertainment products that steal our attention. When a person is binge-watching whatever series on Netflix or YouTube, they are not using those many-many hours to achieve something in their own lives. There is no way around it - if we are here, then we can't be there, our energy is where our attention goes. Why not become more conscious about what we do with the two most valuable resources that every human being has - attention and time?
Some people will say, "Oh, but I don't watch series, I don't sit for hours in social networks, I don't drink alcohol, I don't go to parties, etc, so I value my time", but that's not always the case. There are workaholics and athletes, spiritual people and social workers (I won't list all these labels and social roles because it would take forever) who waste time and energy on a bunch of draining processes and activities just as much. It is different for everyone, and it's a personal task of every person to look at their own lives and figure out what goes where.
My point is I think we have to become more careful, more stingy with our precious resources whether it's money, food, attention, energy, time, or even socializing with other human beings. Yes, it might sound bad, but I've been noticing that lots of what we call "socialization" or "hanging out" is TOTALLY POINTLESS. Yes, it gives people comfort, sense of not being lonely, even a sense of security... but if we look at these patterns closely, these sensations of friendship or closeness with others are very often false. We chat a lot, but do we really communicate anything worth communicating? We seem to be spending time together, but are we really together as human beings? From all we say to each other, is everything truly alive? Why our psychological needs to be around others and talk to them serve only the purpose of giving a sense of (false?) comfort, why we are not using them in smarter ways?
I think one of the keys to better communication and acquiring true friends and close connections with people (while avoiding wasting time and energy on empty talk) is in becoming more stingy with blah-blah-blah. Maybe it's that case where being stingy paradoxically makes one more generous since all that energy and attention is not being wasted, it''s being accumulated and directed with more INTENT where we consciously choose it to go.
WHAT IS ESSENTIAL TO ME - physically, mentally, financially, spiritually, entertainment-wise? What is truly essential to me?
This is the question to ask. Once we find out what's truly essential in all aspects of life, we can easily get rid of junk. Once we stop spending time, energy, money on junk, we won't be as much dependent on those resources that we always lack because of overspending.
It's simple, it's obvious, and it WILL work.
A person who isn't hooked on as many things and needs is much more difficult to control.