The Cost of Free

The old saying "Why buy the cow when you can get the milk for free?" lulls us into complacently believing that somehow we're getting away with something when we acquire a benefit or reward without personal cost, or any other form of equitable exchange.   

This simple idiom, however, thoroughly discounts the investments required on a daily basis to feed and care (and dare I say "nurture"?) the cow that has been boastfully milked dry. Someone clearly had to pay for the cow to be in a position to offer up its milk, yet who really wants to talk about the support system’s underbelly when we're so busy getting the goods for nothing? 

And to add free insult to cheap injury, our true nature never fails to inherently add an element of discontent once we’ve obtained our freebie, especially since the majority of us are not immune to the subliminal side effects of ‘free’ – namely, the ultimate reduction in value we psychologically place upon something we never had to earn or pay for.  

'Free' oftentimes equates to valueless and disposable. Just ask a corporate America intent upon increasing bottom line profits on the thralling backs of unpaid interns who have been offered nothing but "Pomp and Promises".

© by DK King