Oppression is a limiting of options. This exists as an alternative to freedom, which can be seen as a de-limitation of options. Now, we are all well aware of the classic forms of oppression, most notably totalitarianism, but what should be brought to the forefront of our thoughts is a much more subtle malignancy.
Modern capitalism as a system that prides itself on the gloriousness of the free market, as a place where everyone has a chance of success, is a bogus and purposefully perpetuated corporate lie.
The corporation is an evil and selfish entity whose sole raison d’etre is to devour as much and as many resources as it possibly can and give in return a bleak and meagre recompense. That is its nature; to blame it for such digressions is nonsensical. It is the corporation’s masters—who’ve released its leash, who’ve opened its cage, who have removed its muzzle and commanded it to feed so that they might glean the benefit of its shining golden shit—who are our true tormentors.
And so, the rich are cannibals and their bountiful success depends almost entirely on the exploitation of the people. They steal the resources of the land, the land that we share together. They steal the fruits of our labour under the guise of perpetuating a free and functioning society; in return, they claim that we do not work hard enough.
Perhaps this wouldn’t be such a problem if they were satiable, were willing to leave us with some acceptable amount of freedom, but it seems they will never be happy. To them, we are surplus value; human life is a commodity and is no match for the sickly-sweet syrup of El Dorado.
After decades of clawing our way toward freedom we have found ourselves again in a place where the only options seem to be play by the rule of our oppressors or die. We are becoming limited in our action; as more and more industries become commercialized, the potential for us to enjoy what we’re doing diminishes, the potential to find a path to success less and less plausible. Yet this time—for the first time—our failures are not seen as the fault of a deeply corrupt and unbalanced system but as a result of our own shortcomings. Under capitalism our failures are “our fault.” How can this be the same system that continues to tell us that anyone can succeed if they just try hard enough? This chicanery has to be stopped before it controls our everything, before the scope of the resources that we have access to is limited to whatever keeps us content and subdued enough to be productive.
There is a dark and ugly future where the chances of the success of a common person is a thick and viscous reduction at the bottom of a burning pot. Where the fat and victorious laughter of the rich perpetually echoes off the walls. Where we are slaves of our own making. All that is needed for its success is for us to allow this to happen.
It is, undeniably, unfair to disallow the success of the hardworking, but it is entirely unjust to reward one person’s hard work with exaltation and cast the others into the pit. In our lifetime we will have to find a balance between these two points. We must find a way to ensure that our children have a levelled playing field, a genuine chance for success. Hope is slim, but, for those fighting to be free, it always has been.
We’ve reached a pivotal point where if we forget ourselves and the freedom that we so desire, we may never get it back.