Throughout history, enslaved people labored endlessly for survival basics—food, shelter, water. No wages. No choice.

Fast forward to today. We call ourselves free. We trade hours of our lives for paychecks, mortgage payments, recurring bills. The chains look different, but they're still there.

We've simply learned to call it normal. We've dressed up necessity in the language of freedom and ambition. The cage is bigger, the illusion more convincing. But the fundamental trade-off? That hasn't changed much at all.