3130 - They live on a different planet

They live on a different planet, you can hear it in the way they talk. All smooth sentences, no weight to them. Like nothing costs anything up there. They say “the economy is recovering” while my shopping bag gets lighter and the receipt gets longer. Funny recovery — only thing bouncing back is prices. They talk numbers, percentages, growth curves. I talk rent. I talk electricity. I talk choosing which bill gets ignored this month. They say “tighten your belt”. Mate, there’s no belt left. Just bones and bad habits. Wages stuck in the nineties, but they want twenty-twenties obedience. Work harder, stay flexible, be grateful. Grateful for what? For barely surviving with a full-time job? They call it “sacrifice”. Funny how it’s never theirs. Funny how their kids never learn the word. Every speech sounds like a weather forecast: cloudy for you, sunny for investors. They smile through it, like smiles don’t cost money. They tell us it’s temporary. Everything’s temporary except being broke. They tell us to wait. We’ve been waiting so long waiting feels like a career. Different world. Different rules. Same old faces rotating seats like musical chairs with pensions. They don’t lie outright — they just describe a place none of us have ever been. And if you don’t believe them, you’re negative. If you’re angry, you’re irresponsible. No. We’re just awake in a system that runs on lullabies. Prices go up every day. Paychecks stay frozen. And they wonder why the mood’s ugly. It’s not rage. It’s arithmetic.