Before we begin, I would like to ask you a question; If you could be doing anything right now what would it be?
The lie we live.
We could be doing whatever we want, but we are stuck in school learning information that we probably won’t even use in the outside world. I mean would you ever use quadratic equations? Probably not, instead a computer that calculates that for you. But that’s why I’m not here, I came here to talk about the lie we live, or what we call “living”. Each day we live the same day, walk up, get ready, have breakfast, go to school/work. We follow the same path as yesterday. Once, every day used to be a new adventure; days were timeless, but now they are scheduled. Is this what it means to grow up? To be free? But then again are we really free? Food, Water, Land, the elements we need to survive is owned by corporations. There is no food for us on trees; no fresh water in streams; no land to build a home upon.
We obey their rules. We discover the world through a text book, for years we sit and regurgitate what we are told. Tested and graded, like subjects in a lab. Raised to not make a difference in the world. Raised to be no different. Smart enough to do our job, but not smart enough to question why we do it. So we work and work, left with no time to live the life we work for. Until the day come when we are too old to do our job; It is here we are left to die. Our children take our place.
To us our path is unique, but together we are nothing but fuel. The fuel that powers the elite. The elite that hide behind the logos of corporations. This is their world. And their most valuable resource isn’t in the ground it is us. We build their cities; we run their machines; we fight their wars. After all, money isn’t what drives them, it’s power. Money is simply a tool they use to control us. Worthless pieces of paper we depend on to feed us, to move us, and retain us. They gave us money, and in turn we gave them the world.
The trees that cleaned our air, are now factories that poison it. Where there was water to drink there is toxic waste. The animals that ran free, now live in a factory, born and slathered endlessly for our satisfaction. Over a billion people are starving, despite having food for everyone. Where does it all go? 70% of the grain we grow is fed to the animals, that we eat for dinner. Why help the starving? Can’t profit from them.
We are like a plague sweeping the world. Tearing apart the very environment that we need to live. We see everything that need to be sold. As a object to be owned. What happens when we have polluted the last river? Poison the last breath of air? Have no oil for the trucks that bring us food. When we realise that money can’t be eaten? That it has no value? We aren’t destroying the planet, we are destroying all life on it. Every year thousands of species go extinct. And time is running out until we are next.
The small group of corporations that own the media don’t want us to see this. Surrounding us with a fantasy, that we are told is reality. Its funny to think that humans once thought that the earth is at the center of the universe, but then again now we see ourself at the center of the planet.
We point to our technology, and say we are the smartest. But to our computers, cars and factorise illustrates how intelligent we are? Or do they show how lazy we have become? We put this civilised mask on, but when you strip that away, what are we? How quickly we forget in the past hundred years we allowed women to vote, allow blacks to live as equals. We act as if we know it all, yet there is much left to see.
We walk down the streets ignoring the little things, the eyes those stare, the stories they share. Perhaps we fear that we aren’t alone, that we are a part of a much bigger picture, but we fail to make a connection.
We are okay with killing pigs; cows; chickens; strangers from a different land; but not our neighbours; not our dogs; or cats; those we have come to love and understand. We call other animals stupid, yet we point to them to justify our actions. But do we just kill something just because we can, because we always have, does it make it right? Or does it show how little we have learned. That we continue to act with primal congestion. Rather than power and compaction. One day this sensation we call life will leave us. Our body will rot, our valuable recollected. Yesterday’s actions will remain. Death constantly surrounds us. Still it seems so distant from our everyday reality. We live in a world on the verge of collapse. The wars of tomorrow will have no winners. For violence will never be the answer, it will destroy every possible solution.
This isn’t about saving the planet, the planet will be here whether we are or not. Earth has been here for billions of years. Each of us will be lucky to survive until we are 80. We are a flash in time, but our impact is forever.
For better or worse, our generation will determine the future life of this planet. We can either continue to serve this system of destruction until no memory of our existence remains. Or we can wake up; realize that we aren’t moving forwards, but downwards.
This present moment is what every step, every breath, and every death has lead us to. We are the faces of all who came before us. And now it’s our turn; you can choose to carve your own path, or follow the road countless others have already taken.
Life isn’t a movie, the script isn’t written. We are the writers, this is our story.
So I ask you again, If you could be doing anything right now what would it be?