[grecy]

> We're all trapped in this prison of money. People forget they are fundamentally free.

I often think along those lines too, but of course, our perspective is very skewed living in very rich countries, and earning a good wage, being programmers/engineers/etc.

This really hit home for me when I worked minimum wage jobs, and became good friends with people living that life. People working in those jobs MUST go to work 40+ hours merely to have food, shelter and transport to/from work. Nothing else. If you want to have medical coverage, savings or any kind of "pleasure" money, you'll need a second or third job to make that happen.

If you have not seen it already, I highly, highly recommend the first episode of Morgan Spurlock's series "30 Days" where he and his girlfriend attempt to live on minimum wage in a poorer part of the US [1]. tldr; They cry themselves to sleep and struggle horribly. Then Morgan meets a guy working the same jobs as him who has a wife and 3 kids to support. Shocking is not nearly a strong enough word.

For tens of millions of "working class poor" the prison you speak of is the only reality they have.

[1] http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_30_Days_episodes