Photo by Norbu Gyachung on Unsplash





If you have been following the news lately, probably you have noticed that in many countries right now, people are going on a strike – France, Belgium, Venezuela, the UK, Algeria... people are unhappy about the current situations in theirs countries and they obviously want to show it to everyone – to the government, to the international institutions, to the media, even to the local bartenders and the vitrines of the stores... The feeling of being used, robbed, cheated, deceived, betrayed became sadly universal. This is a feeling of deep deception and desperation.





People don't have money (or not enough) to have a normal life where they can not only pay for theirs first basic needs, but also “live”. What does “live” mean? It is allowing yourself some pleasures from time to time like going to a restaurant, or to a movie theater without having the fear that afterwords you will starve or not have enough money to end the month. In some countries these “pleasures” are not even an option. People in Venezuela are starving!





While some people are dying because they don't have what to eat, they don't have access to medical care, they don't know how to pay theirs bills, others are living their best life earning hundreds of millions or even billions of dollars (if you can not spend the little money you have in the local store, do it on Amazon! You got the joke?). Apparently, the number of rich people is increasing. At first glance, this looks like a good thing, but is it really? While some are getting richer, others are getting poorer. There is no other way!





The current situation in many countries is the perfect example for that. We are being the spectators of a fight. A fight for a new society.









Are you only a spectator or also an actor?









As a person coming from a country where we actually started going on strikes and really speak up about our needs for the first time maybe not more than 20 years ago, I have always been empowered by those who do it for centuries and about whom we can even say that it is in their DNA. When you come from a small and poor country, the majority of people often think that they must shut theirs mouths, otherwise they are going to lose even the little they are having right now. It is scandalous but this slave mentality still exists in many places in the world and it will continue to exist. There will always be someone more powerful then you who will make you shut up.





People are scared. And this is exactly what the more powerful than us want. They want us to be scared. If we are frightened, we will not do anything, we will continue being slaves. We will consciously accepted it because we don't have any other choice. Is this what we call a democracy? I don't think so!





Now, I am living in France. French people are from those who have the “strike blood”, they have the revolution in their DNA. Many think that in rich countries there are no poor people. Well, there are and they are many. It is true that the poverty in France is not the same like in Africa, but people still feel the same shame, indignity, unfulfillment of life and scarcity for the future. You study, you work, you pay your bills and then, you don't have anything to eat. Is it normal that someone who works 35 hours per week doesn't have enough money to finish the month? I don't think so. In some countries people work way more than that and still don't have money to eat. Is it normal that in Venezuela people have to go to the black market to buy food way too expensive just to have something on their table? This is scandalous. Is it normal to make refugees stay for days on a boat in the middle of nowhere because no one country wants to accept them on their territory? I call this is a real tragedy.





People lose theirs jobs because of computers, theirs homes because of mortgages, whole countries like Syria have been destroyed completely and finally, the planet is increasing its temperature which doesn't look right now like a big worry but it should be.









So, the Earth is “hotter” than ever. We are on fire. Literally.









Recently, Oxfam published a report on the distribution of the world's wealth. They say that the richest 1% people on the world have 82% of the wealth created last year. 82%! This is a scandal! The poorest people, of course, got nothing. And wait, how many are they? The half of the world's population!





Many people think that the increasing numbers of millionaires is a sign for a better economy but actually is a sign of a failing economy system. The Exclusive Director of Oxfam International, Winnie Byanyiama, says. “The people who make our cloths, who assemble our phones and grow our food are being exploited to ensure a steady supply for cheap goods, and swell the profits of corporations and billionaire investors”. So what does it mean? That the economics work only for some people, but not for everybody. We can not live in a society where if you are not rich, you are poor. There are still so many people, billions, who live in extreme poverty, who don't have any rights, who are obliged to live in indignity. Byanyiama says “Women working in the US poultry industry are forced to wear nappies because they are denied toilet breaks.” This is scandalous and terrifying! It is not acceptable that people nowadays must support this kind of horrible mistreatment which is totally against their dignity. This is not a decent living! Something must change. There are people with no voice. Nobody hears them and nobody listens to them. We must stand up and speak up for them!





You can read the whole paper here : Reward work, not wealth









This fight for a new society is a fight for an urgent change.









People starve, people dye, people are being exploited and killed, people don't have access to education nor to healthcare. We all must fight against inequality and injustice in the world. We all must fight against the repression of the corporate system.





People don't want to be slaves anymore. We have been slaves since humanity exists! Stop! We want to have a real power on our lives. We want to be decision-makers and not decision-takers when it comes to our life and future. We want a decent life. We want real equal rights for everybody. We want everybody to be heard and respected. Not stigmatized and judged. We can not be satisfied with statements like “this is not my problem, I live well”. This is everyone's problem! It is not because we don't live in Africa that we don't have to care about the people who do live there. And even if we don't always realize it, people who live in rich western countries are being exploited as well.





The new society we wish for is a society where the economics works for everybody. Where people care about others. Where seeing kids and whole families starving and dying, countries where whole villages are demolished and people killed, makes us want to do something, not just say “Thank God I don't live that.”









We can not be only spectators. We must be the actors in this global change!









This is the only way we can change our society, our life and our future. Sitting on your chair and thinking about how terrible the world or your life is is not going to make any change. Only standing up, having courage, motivation and determination, leaving behind the mentality of scarcity and slavery, going against your own fears and wounds, speaking up, defending your point of view, fighting for a better life, for a better society, for a better you is going to change the world. Be the master of your life. You are a part of this society. You create and build the society with all of us. Go out of your home and take action. Are you in? Love, Elena



