George Carlin once pointed out that we spend our whole lives being told what to think, what to buy, what to want — and then we congratulate ourselves for having opinions. The joke lands because it's true. And it's funny right up until it isn't. The cage isn't a metaphor for something dramatic. It's just the accumulated weight of every belief you absorbed before you were old enough to question it. And here's the uncomfortable part: You built it. Out of perfectly g