It takes strength to be free. That is why they want us to be weak. When we are weak, we are much more likely to become dependent upon the system to survive, and that makes us much easier to control. So they give us junk to eat, they put poisons into our air and water, they “dumb us down” from a very early age, they feed us a steady stream of “programming” that makes us depressed and afraid, they get us hooked on legal and illegal drugs, and they constantly try to get us into as much debt as possible. Something that a rapper known as Zuby posted on Twitter sums this up perfectly…
He really nailed it.
We were created to be independent beings, but the elite are constantly attempting to make us as dependent as possible.
Here in the United States, we are supposed to be the most prosperous nation on the entire planet.
And yet most of us are living like servants.
When I was growing up, $80,000 sounded like an enormous mountain of money. And it actually was a very significant amount of money in those days. But in 2025 it just doesn’t go that far. Today, the median household income in the U.S. is approximately $80,000 a year. Approximately half of all U.S. households make more than that, and approximately half of all U.S. households make less than that. So if your family earns $80,000 in 2025 that would put you about right in the middle.
So can a typical family of four survive on $80,000 in America today?
The answer might surprise you.
Over the past four years, the cost of living has been rising much faster than our paychecks have.
As a result, our standard of living has been steadily going down.
$80,000 breaks down to about $6,666 a month. So how far will $6,666 a month stretch for a family of four in today’s economy?….
First of all, our hypothetical family of four needs a place to live. As I discussed the other day, the household income required to purchase a typical home in the U.S. has more than tripled since January 2012. At this point, the average mortgage payment in the U.S. is about $2,200.
So after paying the mortgage, we only have $4,466 left.
Next, our family of four has to pay for utilities for their home. According to Google AI, the average U.S. household spends $600 a month on their utilities bills.
So now we only have $3,866 left.
Our family is also going to need phone and Internet service. Cell phone bills for a family of four can balloon to ridiculous proportions, but let’s assume that our family of four is extremely budget conscious and has found a package where they can get basic phone service for 50 dollars a month and Internet service for 50 dollars a month.
Now we are down to $3,766.
In our hypothetical household, both parents are also going to need vehicles to get to work. Let’s assume that both vehicles were purchased used, so the payments will only total about $600 a month. If the vehicles were purchased new this number could potentially be much higher.
Suddenly we only have $3,166 remaining.
If our family has two vehicles that means that they will also be paying for automobile insurance. Let’s assume that they both have exemplary driving records and so they are only spending about $100 a month.
Now our total is just $3,066.
Our hypothetical family of four is also going to need health insurance. According to Anthem Blue Cross Blue Shield, a typical family of four will spend $1,437 a month on health insurance.
Ouch.
Now we only have $1,629 left.
Our hypothetical family is also going to have to eat. Let’s assume that our family clips coupons and cuts corners any way that it can and only spends about $50 for each member of the family on food and toiletries each week. That works out to a total of $800 a month for the entire family.
I know that number may seem way too low to many of you, but let’s go with it.
That brings our remaining cash down to just $829.
Needless to say, our hypothetical family will also need to buy gasoline to get to and from work each week. Let’s assume that they don’t live too far from work and only need to fill up both vehicles about once per week. That would give them a gasoline bill of about $50 a week or $200 a month. Of course if either of them has a long commute to work or if a lot of extra driving is required for other reasons this expense could be far, far higher.
After everything that we have gone through so far, we actually have $629 left.
That is a reason to celebrate, right?
Wrong.
We haven’t taken federal, state and local taxes out of the paycheck yet.
Federal, state and local taxes will reduce your paycheck by about one-fourth.
So after taxes, we are now $1,371 in the hole.
Up to this point we have assumed that our family does not have any credit card debt or student loan debt at all. If they do, those payments will have to be made as well.
In addition, the budget above includes no money for clothing, no money for dining out, no money for additional entertainment, no money for medications, no money for pets, no money for hobbies, no money for life insurance, no money for vacations, no money for vehicle repairs and maintenance, no money for child care, no money for birthday or holiday gifts, and no money for retirement.
On top of everything else, if our family of four has a catastrophic health expense that health insurance will not pay for, then our hypothetical family of four is suddenly facing a complete and utter financial catastrophe.
Are you starting to get the picture?
Most of us are just desperately trying to find a way to scrape by from month to month, and that is the way that the elite like it.
Do you feel like you are a hamster on a wheel that is never really getting anywhere?
Well, the truth is that what you are feeling is very real, because the entire system has been designed to keep us all trapped for as long as possible.
It is time to wake up, get strong, and realize what life is really all about.
You were not designed to be a cog in their machine.
If you don’t take control of your life, someone else will.
I promise you that.
If you don’t want to be a hamster on a wheel, stop listening to their lies and start living the way that you were designed to live.
We were meant to be free, but the elite will happily keep you enslaved if you allow them to do so.
Michael’s new book entitled “Why” is available in paperback and for the Kindle on Amazon.com, and you can subscribe to his Substack newsletter at michaeltsnyder.substack.com.
About the Author: Michael Snyder’s new book entitled “Why” is available in paperback and for the Kindle on Amazon.com. He has also written eight other books that are available on Amazon.com including “Chaos”, “End Times”, “7 Year Apocalypse”, “Lost Prophecies Of The Future Of America”, “The Beginning Of The End”, and “Living A Life That Really Matters”. When you purchase any of Michael’s books you help to support the work that he is doing. You can also get his articles by email as soon as he publishes them by subscribing to his Substack newsletter. Michael has published thousands of articles on The Economic Collapse Blog, End Of The American Dream and The Most Important News, and he always freely and happily allows others to republish those articles on their own websites. These are such troubled times, and people need hope. John 3:16 tells us about the hope that God has given us through Jesus Christ: “For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life.” If you have not already done so, we strongly urge you to invite Jesus Christ to be your Lord and Savior today.