MY MESSAGE TO THE WORLD, AND ALL OF THE PEOPLE IN IT, UPDATED ON THE 22ND OF DECEMBER, 2024.
There is an awful lot going on in this world. Inflation is high, there is a war between Russia and Ukraine, and another between Israel and Palestine. Much of this fighting is useless, but of course, there is very little that the average citizen can do. In America, the presidential election resulted in a resounding victory for Trump and his Republican party. As such, minority groups all across the USA are terrified of what may come in the next four years.
I wonder often how we became the society we are to-day. Not in a deep or philosophical sense, but do you, reader, not sit back and stare at the world we live in? A world of greed and suffering and selfishness, a world controlled by the wrong sort of people. Strip them of their fancy titles and you shall see them for they really are: unpleasant, arrogant, megalomaniac low-brows with no regard for anyone or anything. While Taylor Swift flies from California to Arizona in her repulsive private jet, there are thousands of homeless, rotting in makeshift tents, forever afraid of police 'intervention'. As Elon Musk and Jeff Bezos sit in their gilded thrones, knocking back glass after glass of expensive champagne, a woman is terrified of the possibility that she will not be able to afford rent this month, despite her working 60 hours a week at a warehouse, and having to feed the mouths of her two hungry children. All the monarchs of the world, who suck away the tax-payer's hard earned money, and spend it on frivolities and coronations and fancy parties. Isn't it terrible?
I cannot say much on these matters, because I do recognise the luxuries I have. I have a house to live in, I have a good education, I am a man of good standing. Never have I wanted for food, never have I been too poor to buy winter clothes. There is not active threat in my country, besides rising knife crimes. But even so, seeing such awful things happen to my fellow humans, it sickens me. Folks of any religion, any colour, any class, they all deserve to feel safe and happy and fed and clothed. But it always comes back to those few, those few with all the money in the world, and how they never ever give away a single red cent of it.
The world was once very different. Thousands of years ago, when we were living in caves, I wonder how those people would feel about modern life. If I were to take a prehistoric human and show him the world as it is to-day, he, who is accustomed to hunting, gathering, pure survival, he would surely be overwhelmed by the mania of it all. The cars whizzing down the streets, the people milling about, the buildings so tall, it would seem like an alien planet to him. He knows only of painting on rock walls, of sewing animal skins for clothing, of sleeping next to a makeshift bonfire. As hard as it all seems, I wish to God that our world were that simple.
Something a little un-related. Manners, manners. They are fading fast! People are so uncouth these days! I wish not to sound like a crotchety old man, but if only people would remember how to carry themselves in public. They are so terrible these days, and I shall tell you just how.
I board the bus and hear someone's mobile phone. It is not ringing, but rather, it is blasting out tinny music on repeat, the same twenty seconds of the latest pop song on loop. The owner of said phone has absolutely no self awareness, they only turn it down if I lean over and ask them to wear earphones, and I only do so when I can be certain that the owner poses no threat to me. This is the worst sort of person to deal with on public transport. Next, the man who spits! Who coughs and spits everywhere he goes, whether it is chewing-gum, paan, or just his phlegm and spittle. Disgusting, disgusting. To walk down the street and hear someone hacking up their lungs, it is awful. How are they not ashamed of themselves? And though there are many more wretched sorts of people out there, I shall end with a final description - the cameraman. The individual, whether man or woman, who seems to find delight in filming people out and about, nearly always without that person's consent. Their arm ends not with their fingertips, but with the grease-stained screen of their smartphone. Their face is either blank, or plastered with a smug little grin, a grin which knows full well that it's doing something wrong, but is choosing to do so anyway. There is no longer any respect for a stranger's dignity, for a stranger's personal space, because to this individual, everything is for their entertainment, everything simply MUST be shared on-line, no matter how much it ruins the other's reputation! How sad, how the world has fallen!
All in all. I wish the world would be kinder. I long for a day when everybody is happy and content. And normal. And at peace with themselves and the cosmos and each other. But indeed, people have been wishing for this since the dawn of humanity, and it has not happened yet. Such is the plight of homo sapiens.