Yesterday, my classmate from Harvard sent me a message to tell me that an offer he’d made on a multimillion-dollar home had been accepted. My stomach hurt a little bit. If I hadn’t quit my job, I’d be taking in his same salary. Maybe I would be buying a big house instead of slumming in a garage.

When I accepted my job offer at Intel, I was assigned a Home Mortgage Consultant. They had their own Relocation Mortgage Program for new employees. That was awfully nice of them, I thought. They’re really looking out for me. Of course not. Intel wanted me to buy a house and take on a mortgage because the payments would have enslaved me for at least the next decade.

Why would anyone want to be enslaved to an expensive house? I feel sorry for my classmate. He’ll be making mortgage payments until his retirement party. And it’s a big house, which means he will likely populate it with offspring. He might as well have thrown a dog collar around his neck with a short rope to his cubicle. That’s what companies want.