Imagine a white person, born into the upper class elite, in a western country where prosperity abounds. Such a man (gender assigned purely for convenience’s sake) has, from the time he was born, lived a life of comfort. He has never had to worry about where or how he will get his next meal. He has never had to worry about not being able to find a job. He can choose to either take up a job or not, because the State will support him anyway. He has not grown up in a society where the resources are acutely less than the population among which it needs to be distributed. He has lived all his life in comfort, without the need to worry that he may ever lose this comfort. He has also never been required to work too hard to achieve this comfort. He has not grown up in a society where child protection is NOT just a telephone call away. He has not grown up in a society where a child can be beaten with a stick by his own parents, and passersby will find it normal. He has never been hit by ANYONE, without knowing that he can hit them back. He can pursue a college education at any age he likes, because he enjoys the certainty of his fees being paid for by the State. He has never had to think beyond himself.
In such a man’s dictionary, the word SURVIVAL does not exist. Because surviving has not been a very difficult thing to do.
Now this man grows bored of the society in which he has been living: being comfortable isn’t a particularly tiring vocation. He feels that the people around him waste their time eating, drinking and sitting like louts in front of inane television programs. He feels the need to leave such a society and live in a completely different one.
So now imagine that this man visits a developing nation. In this country, the State supports no one. In this country, if you want to live, you have to make your own money. If you want money, you have to procure a job. If you want a job, you have to have an education. If you want a job that allows you to live COMFORTABLY, you have to have higher education. And if you want an education, you have to pay for it yourself. If you are a minor, your parents have to pay for your education. For your parents to pay for this education, they have to start saving money before you are even born. Yet, the above mentioned white man wonders why everyone in this country seems so desperate. He wonders why everyone seems eager to achieve material comforts. Everyone can think only of procuring an education, and then a job, which seems to be the key to a comfortable life. He wonders why people cannot think beyond themselves, and change the system. He wonders why people want to be left alone and to just manage to live a decent existence.
Yet he is no different from the people he is so quick to judge. He too seeks comfort and a good life. The only difference is that he has been accustomed to such a life: for him, such a life comes free. He merely seeks to continue such an existence. The other man has never experienced it, and merely seeks to ACHIEVE it.
“Freedom can only be exercised by people who are protected from the lack.”
