Painted Walls

By Ethan Van Hagopian
Contributor

Held divided by fears and painted walls that mask the truth, you are pressured and held down by the painted walls of society.

I say “held” with great confidence, hoping that you do not fall for the shortcomings of man and are not willingly agreeing to these racist antics. Of which I remind you have not entirely been implanted by colonialist influence, you come to the conclusion that society as a whole is made to hurt and terrify the minorities, whether that minority be of caucasian, african, asian or indigenous origins.

This world is ruled by systems of oppression, systems that wish to hold you down, that wish to take your money, that wish to ensure your downfall. Do you want to live in this oppression by your state? Do you want to be held back by your state? Does your state want the best for you? The answer should be obvious but when we have a clear imbalance in power, we come to a rather concerning conclusion. We are being used. We are a tool put in place by the government, only there to be used for cheap work and one-sided elections. These men and women of power will also use tools of seduction and belief to ensure your loyalty, they employ religion and “benefits” to sweeten a sullied pot, they seek to destroy your livelihood in return for shares in a market, they seek to rule over you like priests of totalitarianism, they seek to ruin and defile the lives of your children, your grandchildren and theirs. I frown on the government for not allocating the appropriate resources to those in need, for medical institutions, for educational institutions, for institutions managing poverty, welfare and childcare. I hope you clearly see that they do not care for you, nor me, nor the minorities of this land. In fact, they seek to silence all of us. They implement laws that prevent us from speaking in our native tongues in public spaces, they survey our lives, asking us questions about our lives, they collect and farm data and sell them back to us using algorithms for commercial sites.

You never realize it, but you are the product. You make, you buy, you sell and it begins again. They watch with cameras to ensure you do not negatively affect them, try and see. You will be left to rot. They care for nothing but profit, they destroy native land for pipelines, they seek to mine with no care of the environment, they process and burn oils and fuels, they create food artificially, selling them to you with no care of its effects on your health. Be brave, speak out, be free.