Every day of my life, I worry about how the world is entirely dependent upon the system. The system is killing the weak. It is on the side of those who are powerful, who have money.
My friends always ask me what I mean by the system. The system is invisible, but you can see its impact on the world. It is the engine of capitalism. I’m not a Marxist, but I know from my own experience that the system can only be efficient when the weak are exploited.
The war in the Congo is part of the system. The engine of capitalism will never allow a stable government in the Congo. It will never allow peace in that country. While the war is going on, their natural resources can be turned into computers, phones, and other valuable items that make life easier for the powerful people, the ones who control the system. They can sit and talk on Skype, type on laptops, and chat on Facebook at the expense of the blood of the Congo.
If the Congo gets its peace, the system will be visibly damaged. Computers and other luxury products will be more expensive because the people of the Congo will want some stake in the management of their natural resources. It’s painful to say that we in the West are all benefiting from the system. Whether you like it or not, the system makes your life easier while it makes other lives much harder.
The system doesn’t care about those lives, about the individual—it cares about scale. The idea of scalability was introduced by the system to confuse the world. The notion of scalability objectifies humans, reduces them to statistics picked up by the news.
Here’s an example: “Thousands of people are dying in Sudan.” What do you think about that statement? It makes it seem as if it’s normal, inevitable for them to die. The media does this all the time, because mainstream media works for the system. What if the media said statements like this instead: “A woman is raped and killed in Sudan as we speak.” This message is powerful, and can catch the attention of many people. It channels the power of affecting one individual into a movement to affect many more.
That’s why I don’t care much about people who are telling us that their projects will transform the lives of millions of people. That really means that they do nothing. Think about the United Nations and the mainstream capitalist organizations when they talk about their work for the weak. They sit, drink, and laugh in a conference meeting, and then talk about how they impact millions.
I believe if poor people like me can get more opportunities and share them with the world, then the system’s foundation will shake. The system shook when I got my scholarship to study in America. The system was confused instead of it confusing me.
So can we directly fight the system? Unfortunately, I don’t think so. What we can do is challenge the system by thinking of the weak who, because of the system, have been denied a better life, a better education, food, freedom, and basic human needs. However, I beg you not to speak too much about the weak without actually doing anything. Action, not talk, is the best weapon against the system. I urge people to join the grassroots movements that are trying to help smaller communities. Community by community, we can begin to shake the system and fight for the justice of the weak.
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