When I was younger I dreamed of adventure. I would watch Jacques Cousteau documentaries with my dad and we would stay up late into the night putting together scrapbooks of submarines, airplanes and ships – all the necessary tools of a good explorer. He would tell me that, one day, I too could travel like Cousteau, unlocking the world’s secrets.

Now, at age 28, I am trapped.

I pay for a car so that I can drive to work so that I can pay for my car.

I paid for education so that I can have a career that will pay for my education.

I paid for a house so that I have a place to live while I work to pay for a house.

I picked a good neighborhood so that I could get to know my neighbors, but all my neighbors have fences.

I own clocks so that I can see how little time I have in a day.

I own a TV so that I can watch documentaries about people who are unlocking the world’s secrets – my secrets.

--Jay R. Jones, Adbusters No. 69