Musing

It's time to level up

It's time to level up. Or so they say. As the interest rises the reality of the great divide only shows us the chasm between us. We step out of our council porches to dream of a new day. A new beginning if only we pull up straps and we get to work.

The harder we toil it may feel the lesser the spoil. And we may question as the enslavement to the wages of debt as we peddle to new dreams of attainment. The carrot might feel out of reach, but it entices us. And so, we march. Trying to step to the beat of their drum. Only to be beaten by it.

Equality of circumstance or is it opportunity? Equality of outcome is that the same? If we hold down enough toil will we have an equal share of the spoil? Some being more equal than others?

If we cannot claim a great education because our educators earn less than their worth, what kind of education is that to us? What kind of education is that to our children? What are we teaching them to become if not just other than nodes in their system?

Does north meet south? And if so, is it somewhere in the middle? And where is the middle ground between those that have and those that are sold the dream of having? Where is the line? And do we cross it with equality of standing?

So, let’s level up so the 99 can become the one. And when we cannot we only have ourselves to blame. The system, whilst lame, was not the problem. We didn’t sacrifice enough. We didn’t give enough of ourselves to it, so the system did not let us down we let ourselves down and so the bottle awaits. A place to bury our dreams in. We didn’t give it all even though we had nothing left to give. We didn’t put down the cigarette, we took another drag.  

We can blame the system. Or we can blame the weak, the vulnerable, those other than ourselves, those different in pigmentation. We can blame ourselves.  We can blame the system. But never the architects of it. They want us to be equal to them. To reach their level but never surpass. And as long as we know our place we will do just fine.

Ours is not to question. Ours is not to point out the difference. The gap. The lack in our lives. We do not have the words to articulate it and so our voices go unheard. Or at least not taken seriously. For to question is to show ourselves for what we are. For what we have not done. For the fact that we did not get ourselves out of the mire, we were born into.

Never mind our complaints of not having the opportunity. Not having the training, the skills, the awareness or the support of daddy’s fund in which to trust. These excuses may wash down our local as we drown out reality. But getting wasted just shows us for the waster we are. They gave us ample opportunity to level up. We just chose to ignore it.

We chose to lie awake a 4 am deciding whether we need heating more than food. Whether the kids will notice if we skip lunch tomorrow. Whether sleeping pills were a good supplement for an empty belly or sleep is just better than facing reality.

So, when opportunity comes knocking and it will, allegedly, come from the greatest exit in living memory and when the levels are given a chance to rise, no matter how weak a thread it hands us, or the question of those that have it all can really know what is lacking for those that have nothing, if we don’t grab on with both hands, we only have ourselves to blame when we fall through the cracks and no one hears our cries.

Or we could blame the other. The one crossing the ocean in a vessel not fit for purpose, those who run from wars sponsored by toys of capitalist destruction. Who run to the safety and security of a nation that propagates a lie. A dream of attainment. Of equality. A dream of opportunity. A land where the levels are equal. Where the streets are pathed with more than dirt.

As long as we don’t blame the architects for the system. As long as we don’t hold accountable those holding onto the purse strings and who dip into it every now and then when daddy’s trust has a wobble. As long as we don’t blame the ones selling off the last bastion of hope in our last moments of need to the highest bidder. As long as we don’t turn on the gatekeepers or the jail master, as long as the patients don’t overthrow the asylum.

As long as we remained distracted and compliant then we can stay as a cog in the game. As long as we don’t question the rules then maybe, just maybe we will be one of them one day. Then we can have our say. As long as it tows the party line. As long as we are grateful for the opportunity to level up one step higher on the ladder even when the heavens seem so far away. As long as we play our part in propping up the system we are welcome to play inside it. As long as we know our place and don’t try to change it, or break it, or bring it crashing down around us.

So, it’s time to level up my friends. Take opportunity when it comes knocking. And when it doesn’t we only have ourselves to blame. And if that does not feel comfortable blame the other and look the other way.

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Photo by Andrea Piacquadio from Pexels

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