Institutional Level Scams
“The higher you climb, the harder it gets.”
At this point in my life, strategy has begun to fail me. I’ve fallen for traps, ambiguous legal snares, and institutional sieges.
They’re not fun to come up against. In fact, they’re an existential threat in some cases. Locking me within realms of zugzwang that I didn’t know could exist. However, reality tends to be a bit of a cunt sometimes.
“No man, no problem.” Stalin once said.
Some part of me used to agree with this line of thinking. That if I didn’t have to deal with people, life might be easier. More simplistic, less prone to petty fights and squabbles over status, money, and power.
Stalin was incorrect though, for if all men disappeared. The lions would come, the hyenas would multiply, and crocodiles would adapt themselves to the desert landscape in order to expand their own influence. Life does not believe in stagnation, but only change. Whether that change is good for you or not, doesn’t matter to nature.
I always thought that the saying, “more money, more problems” was a lie. However, it’s really not, for when you steadily advance through life. Other lifeforms take it upon themselves to nod their heads and turn up the heat. Challenging you in ever harder games of dominance, prestige, and virtue.
When I got a salary increase, I thought that I’d be able to save more money. Instead, this is what I got. First and foremost, when my salary increased, I had to move to another area to take on the new position. While looking for housing, I ended up fighting with the local real estate agents. For every time I applied for a cheap apartment, or small house; they’d ignore me. They’d blatantly dismiss my applications, dodge my emails, phone calls, and LinkedIn messages. Why? Well, because my salary was suddenly too high… A state of reverse classism I never expected to encounter, and surely never heard or read about.
As a result, I got forced into a more expensive neighborhood. The kind with the annoying neighbors, screaming kids, front porch watchers, dog walkers, and the like…
Deciding the bunker down, I began to write as I normally do. Ignoring the pestilence outside in favor of keeping my peace and adding to the world’s supply of knowledge. I know this post won’t garner any sympathy, for there are far greater struggles on the globe today. However, for anyone seeking to better themselves. These are some of the new challenges you’ll no doubt face as you climb the ladder of life.
The second scam I fell for was setting up my healthcare. I decided to max out all the options, even though I already had VA healthcare. My reasoning was that since I’m now living in the civilian world (instead of the military) they’ll kick me out of the hospital and into the streets if I (for whatever reason) fail to pay my hospital bills. As a result, I failed to fully comprehend the fine print. Something which erased another quarter of my salary by force via the IRS, since they had a nasty little 125 clause that prevents an applicant from canceling until an open enrollment period. A period which only becomes available once per year.
After psychologically accepting this epic defeat, I got a nasty letter from my landlord stating that there was a new sheriff in town. The HOA (home owners association…) who had recently decided to send me a long legal letter informing me that my trash cans were no longer allowed to be in view of anyone driving by my house. Since they were sitting on the side in the rocks (where they belong) the cans were suddenly deemed an eye sore to the newly established “code enforcers” patrolling the neighborhood. So… it would seem that since I had no interest in going outside to find drama for myself. The drama had decided to come to me instead.
With all this being said, I’ll be frank. Institutional force is a form of unmitigated violence, whether it’s coercive or overt. As since there is no one to complain to, no manager, or customer service line; their force is absolute and often unrelenting in the face of no higher authority to check their power.
Thus, who punishes an institution, or a cabal of corporations emboldened by a purchased, privatized government?
The answer is simple, no one…
They become god.
Hello! We’re D.J. Hoskins
We are Davena and Jason Hoskins, co-authors of 30+ books and siblings who write under the pseudonym D.J. Hoskins. Three years apart and in our twenties, we have been fascinated by stories from a young age. Davena is a student attending Princeton University, and Jason attends Georgetown University.
