#Burden

Burden is the invisible weight imposed by the twin gears of others' expectations and ruthless reality. It contains the paradox that the more it is praised as a virtue, the greater the degree of sacrifice. While everyone wishes to avoid it, society's tightrope walk relies on people sharing each other's burdens. Yet, at its end lies a chain of exhaustion and self-loathing rather than gratitude. No poison is more unsettling than the burden that promises the greatest security.

Payroll tax is the modern rite that secretly severs a slice of laborers’ earnings and offers it at the altar of public finance. What was meant as fair compensation undergoes an unmerciful trial in advance, diminishing in purity before and after the ritual of withholding. The collusion between tax authorities and employers to harvest our spare coins resembles a charitable heist disguised as civic duty. The more stability the system promises, the more unpredictability it conceals in hidden levies.