The other day I was having a talk with a stranger and the topic of hope came up and what it actually means to people in a modern world where it seems to be a wishful thinking rather than something tangible. The reality is when we look around the world seems to be a pretty bleak place and there is not a lot of hope going around. Now, being an optimistic and hopeful person by nature Ive always wondered why people seem so, not to put a finer point to it, hopeless and accepting over their fates in which ever way they go. To be truthful, there is a black cloud over the western world and has been for years and it has been every growing. When you talk to people on the street they seem to be in sort of a limbo where they are angry and frustrated with their situation and even more angry about how the world has evolved but at the same time they seem dejected over having any power to change their lives in a meaningful way or being able to influence how the world turns. The phrase quiet desperation springs to mind. We seem to live in a world where people have given up on the world improving and they seem to be giving into the mindset they are lost in a sea of endless turbulence where they float from one bad thing to the next. If one follows traditional media or social media this sentiment is well reflected. Traditional media has a very negative overtone, the news are filled with hate, divide, war, corruption, crime and endless stories about cheating, lying, bullying and bad people getting away with their crimes. Same goes for social media except the hate mongering is so overflowing people hardly see anything else. And in the middle of all this is the monsterous media cry that everything is hopeless and things will only become worse although it is never defined what exactly how things are going to become worse. So we have populations gripped in despair and media which is all to happy to fan the flames of endless darkness. Its like a media shadow is cast over us and we are powerless to have something to say about it. This is of course no coincidence and never has been. In a capitalistic society those in power and with the money see it as their holy quest to keep the masses in the grip of hopelessness because once you seed that notion in peoples hearts they become docile in their despair and forget about things like human rights, dignity and equality for themselves. A society gripped in hopelessness, despair and hate is much easier to control because people are sundered, each one in their little corner of bleakness staring like deers in the night at their phones spewing endless negativity which slowly infects them and confuses until the point is reached people simply give up and accept what is coming to them. Its should therefore not be surprising to that politicians home in on this like flies on an orange turd because they of all people long for the power to control the masses and shape societies into endless herds of voters for the next empty promise. And as post politicians are capitalists in their withered hearts they join their bretherns of the market and amplify the hopelessness and the powerlessness by making sure they run the societies in as bleak and dark way as possible. Now, before you shout that Im going for conspiration theory and all that let me assure you thats not what Im aiming for. As I see it a society is an eternal struggle of power over two things, control and power and both of these are related to each other. Those with control have power and those in power have control and since we in the western world generally live in capitalistic societies the capitalistic dictum is going to be the way to go and since capitalism is based on unfettered power and control it is no surprise the politicians and the market capitalists go hand in hand in their fights over power and control of our societies. There is no conspiration theory, there is no secret cabal or group. All this is the effect of a blind worship of a theoretical dictum to the point of becoming a religious power. At its core capitalism is all about maximising profit at all cost and that is what is happening to our societies. In search for profit capitalists have figured out that an unhappy and hopeless population is at the same time, a good source of revenue and easy to control and thus it becomes the natural way for things to evolve. Capitalists know that a hopeless person is an easy prey for monetary exploits and at the same time its easy to transfix said person on hate and divide which in turn makes the person more acceptable for useful propaganda. Again, no conspiratory ideas here, just the logical conclusion of a spreadsheet on what maximises profit and since capitalists are in power and have control of our societies they do what they see as fit for their profit. Now some of you might say it couldnt possibly be so but I ask, have you looked up from your phone and wondered when was the last time you saw a person smile, be truly happy or content with their lives? I bet your analysis is going to surprise you and if not just look at what you are consuming on your phone. Is the content all so happy and jolly or are you yet again stuck during night in doom scrolling negative content which gradually gets more negative the longer you scroll? Have you looked at your paycheck in context of the hours you work and how you are treat at work? Are you the proud owner of two or more credit cards which are always on the verge of being maxed out? Do you have housing loans which you stand little chance of paying back before the grim reaper knocks on your door. Is your house furnished with the latest and you have everything on monthly payments for the next three years? If some of my questions apply to you and in worst case scenario everything checks does it make you surprised to acknowledge that perhaps inside youre deeply unhappy and feeling completely powerless to manage your own life and you feel there is no way out except paying next months dues? Does all this feel somehow unfair? Well, tough luck cause youre in the deep hole on your own accord and because you have been doing what the capitalistic society wants you to do in order for you to fit in and be an acceptable member of the society. In other words, you have been listening all too closely to the capitalists and their words which at the same time sound so tantalizing and all but guarantee you servitude to them for pretty much all your life. You arent living your life, youre living the life they have chosen for you to exploit your life for every penny they can squeese out. And while youre cloths are expensive, your house looking like a show room, your car being of the latest and greatest and that holiday you take every year is so great it really isnt there for you but for the capitalists to feed on and the price you pay is your life and yes, you only got one life. Is it all worth it when deep down youre miserable? While Im not going to make any judgement Im going to hazard a guess right now youre full of anger, frustation, despair and hate, just the way the rulers of our societies want you to be because it makes you easily managed. Some of you might by now ask how I tie this into hope and the answer is simple. Hope is everything which the above is not. Hope denotes youre not a perpetual slave to a system which only seeks to squeeze you, hope is not hate, hope is knowing you are in control of your life, hope is the feeling a rotten day will be replaced with a better one and hope is so much more. It is the opposite of what we have today in our societies. We need to take back our lives and our societies and make them into places where we thrive and live our lives to the fullest without capitalism being able to snatch away what is rightfully ours and sell it back to us for ninety nine ninety nine. Life is a precious gift full of meanings and it is there for us to explore inwards and outwards on our own premisis and not according to some self help book. We need to push back at the capitalistic dark clouds of control and set ourselves free and take back the power which we have been robbed of. We, the people, should be in control, the society is for us, we are the society, this teeming mass of individuals who each and everyone have their place on this planet. We need to rise up and demand back what is ours and above all, hope for a better day.