Where has he gone? Big Brother? Doesn’t he see it? Doesn’t he care? Now that we have dead children on our shores, crying mothers by our fences, broken families, desperate times, desperate measures. Isn’t that all there is to surveil? The sorrow of human nature? But what do I know? I’m just a man. I’m just one man. One man against a brave new world! I am Smith! Winston Smith, pleased to meet you.
I know… I make no sense. But how to make sense of oneself in these times we’re living? I know… I ask a lot of questions. What answers have I got? What answers could I possibly have to give? The world has come to an outrageous state of things. I do not know what Orwell or Huxley would say. I cannot tell if they saw into the future, if they predicted it, if they inspired it. All I know is that things, as they are… Well, they cannot be!
There is this quote. People say it is Buddha’s (could one really know?). It says that three things cannot be hidden: the sun, the moon, and the truth. Well, I say, sure as hell they can. Big Brother does it. He follows us everywhere. He watches us, he guides us, he tells us what to think, how to feel, where to live, whom to love. He conceals, he manipulates, he lies – he hides the sun, the moon, and hell yeah… the truth! He “takes care” of us. I say we can take care of ourselves! We are not always sure of what we want, but we know exactly what we don’t, and that’s a start.
We live in a world where Donald Trump is the President of the United States. And can we blame the man? I mean… everyone has the right to be a jerk. But having a shot at winning this? Becoming Mr. President? Come on! Whose fault is it? That is not on him. People have been brainwashed. I refuse to believe they can be so stupid… but brainwashed… who knows…
And what about Europe? What about memory, huh? Guns, germs and steel, all right… but what about history? What about consciousness? Isn’t hindsight an asset? What about mercy? What about compassion, and kindness, and empathy? Have we all gone heartless? Are we soulless creatures just wandering around the world, with no purpose whatsoever?
I have trouble sleeping at night, thinking of how much pain, how much grief a tiny 5-year-old child carries across the Mediterranean. And then the door is closed. And then daddy is lost. And then food is short. And then we don’t belong, we don’t speak the language, we’re not educated enough, we’re not good enough, we’re not white enough.
Xenophobia… a long word, isn’t it? But it’s not that… it’s the economy!! Oh my, the economy! This fictional critter! This fable! Our scapegoat! They cannot come in… they will steal our jobs! They will colonize us! They will take over!
Enough! I say we fight! We must and we can! Today! Right now!
Again, Donald Trump is President of the United States, for Christ’s sake! Trump!!! They play
that on us, and then what? They expect us to do nothing? To sit back and watch? Well, I say we take it to the streets! That’s my answer! No more fences! No more walls! No more manipulation! Freedom! We want freedom all the way!
I hear something.
I have to go. I don’t have much time. They’re coming for me.