Português
The reactions to the protests by Climáximo activists and the Student Climate Strike should make us reflect on the life we lead and the system that organizes us.
One of the most publicized reactions is from a person who, outraged, said “I have to work to feed my children.” Considering that this is what most of the population does, anyone can easily identify with such an outburst. Does this type of reaction result from a great love for their work and the pleasure of selling their time to be able to feed their children? Or is there a hidden frustration, which affects almost all of us, due to the daily and costly life that forces us to exchange time (that could be spent with such children) for money to at least feed them?
There are also reactions defending “other forms of action.” First, other forms of action have been taken and continue to happen, almost always criticized or ignored. None suffice. Second, there are conversations, debates, assemblies, training sessions, and other initiatives on climate and other topics such as housing, police violence, racism, inequality, wages, democracy, and alternatives to our way of life. The question is:
How many of us, “who have to feed our children,” show up?
We don’t have time. We don’t have mental availability. Furthermore, we can’t think about anything outside our lives. This is one of the problems with the system we’ve built to organize ourselves. Representative democracy serves exactly to free us from this responsibility to think, question, and participate politically. We pass on the responsibility and free ourselves from this burden on our shoulders, that of seeking and collectively fighting for alternatives.
The important thing is to have time to exchange for money. For growth. For wealth creation. We end up releasing this pressure on our equals. On the public servant, the colleague, the neighbor, the activist.
I also exchange time for money. I have a son to feed, bills to pay, and privileged nonsense like music and soccer while I drink a few glasses as an escape. Likewise, I have some time left, little, which I dedicate to being an active participant in collective life. I could, should, and want to do much more.
That’s why I thank those who can free themselves from the shackles of time/money. Those who can give more for others than for themselves. These are the ones who leave seeds. These are the ones we will listen to one day when it really affects us.
When you’re stuck in traffic because someone blocked the road, take advantage of that time. Breathe and momentarily free yourselves.
Do you just want to work and feed your children so they can get by in this world we live in as if it has reached “the end of history”? Or does it make more sense to feed our children and fuel the transformation of the world so that we leave them a habitable planet, a life with more time, healthy, purposeful and fairer for everyone?
It cannot be enough to make our children survivors; we must leave them with the seed that we can transform not only our lives, but everyone’s.
And this is only done with time, participation, and collective solidarity.
Our children will thank us; believe it.
By: João Sousa, member of Citizenship Academy