“To beat the man, you must become the man.”

A friend of mine said the above line to me once.

I am lucky in that I am surrounded by people of incredibly diverse backgrounds on a daily basis. I get the chance to hear ideas on topics that vary greatly from my own every single day, and this works incredibly well to increase my understanding of what is happening in the world.

This also means that I am constantly tested in my knowledge and wisdom, and my failures are often brought out in front of me so I can see them clearly. This kind of experience is both humbling and empowering, and I would not have it any other way.

The people I am surrounded with have widely varying levels of cultural programming that has been created over a lifetime through an imperceptible gradient. Younger people are not exempt from this programming, it has just taken on a very different form with the newer generations. As each generation transitions to adulthood, they tend to push their form of programming more and more until certain ideas begin to dominate while others are lost. Due to the different nature of programming between generations, there is often glaring problems the younger people see that are invisible to the older generations.

I often share my opinions on world events to the people around me, and I must say that my programming can’t be much more different than that of many of them. The disagreements far outnumber the agreements, and many of my statements are considered outlandish.

Before I go on talking about myself to much, I want to get to my point. The people of the Western world have been almost entirely convinced that we can bring about any change we want by using our precious possession called a vote. This vote will supposedly help get someone that represents us to a place of power so we can see the change we want. Of course there is no person out there that can perfectly represent another. There will always be differences, and this ensures that your voice will never be entirely heard.

The next step would be to then become that politician or private entrepreneur that has the power to bring about this change. But when the system is designed to benefit a few people that conform to  certain model that is currently excepted, the average person with average ideas will not be accepted. You can only be a successful politician if you can raise enough money for your campaign so a housewife with no business experience has very little chance of getting anywhere.

This leaves us with only one remaining choice. We can choose to not be a part of this exclusive system that does not accept certain people, and this is much easier than it seems.

Every time you give something helpful to another person without expecting anything in return, you choose not to play the game. It does not matter how small the gift is.

Every time you find a way to make something you need, or fix something that is broken yourself, you don’t fall in to the trap of a monetary society.

Every time you find a way to enjoy your life without being forced to pay in return, you take back your freedom.

There are many that believe we are facing a world wide systemic collapse of our money system. This is a system that has monetized everything possible, including life, and we are slowly being killed by our own fascinations. I believe this collapse is very possible, but I will not argue the points here, because this system is no longer relevant. The only thing that matters is our life system, which includes our physical, mental, and spiritual health. It has been put at risk because of our material obsessions and we are currently on the brink.

I have faith that humanity will overcome this challenge that we have created, and in fact, we are already rebuilding this life system. Our capitalist society may collapse tomorrow, but it will not matter in the least, because the love humanity is capable of will always overpower any other force. We do not need to become the man in order to fix the system, because we have been the man all along. We have always had the power to shape our lives for the better, its only a matter of whether or not we choose to acknowledge it.