Opinion: The System

They asked us to dream big. We dreamt big and they questioned the reality of our dreams. That is “The System” we live in. We live in a country and countries today where our desires to make it big in society is akin to building castles in the air. It is the fundamental belief i believe in, I am my brother’s keeper that keeps me going. Nowadays, being your brother’s keeper is a scar in the conscience of humanity. This scar resulted from arrogance and pomposity, multitudinous acrimonies and mere hatred and jealousy.

From elementary Social studies, we are made to believe that the highest set of rules that govern a society is the constitution. Reality seems to disagree with this. Society is run by a set of codes; a pre defined order called the system.

A system that creates a divide between the rich and the poor and dares to create a middle class as its midpoint. A system that chooses to favour a particular sect of people while looking down on others. A system that puts a timeline on almost every lifetime achievement. “A degree by 24, marriage by 28, childbirth in the first year of marriage et al” .A system where sinners judge sinners for sinning differently. A system where fluency in English is a parameter for intelligence or skin colour, the parameter for beauty.

Welcome to the system. One way or the other, we make up this system or fall victim to it. This system seems inseparable from every human institution there is.

In our schools, this system segregates students into the brilliant, average and weak and rewards them for their memory rather than intelligence. An educational system which has shifted its focus from “what you know” to “who you know” or better still “what you have”.

As humans, our prime form of competition was that race through the uterus to the fallopian tube with the oocyte being the ultimate prize. From my perspective, that was the only race we had to battle out with others. Any other form of competition afterwards is a race against your own self. This thing I wish we could correct in our minds because we are all peculiar.

In our churches, this system has caused us to capitalize on spirituality while forgoing the very reality. No wonder there is a call for fund raising when the church needs a bus and a call for prayers when a church member needs surgery. Ironically, the rich man’s absence in church is recognized by almost every one and no one seems to realize when the poor man becomes bed ridden. And to top it all, fundraisings are made according to the amount one has to offer the church.

I was terribly disturbed when I saw two pretentious politicians trumpeting on television their amazing ability to fix the broken economy. After squashing our inherited market-based communities with decadent laws, these statists still want to suck our blood like vampires. Wicked people!

A system taken over by corruption, one of the social ills in the annals of humanity. A leech that preys on the weak, the poor and the ignorant alike. Which has destroyed the very core and foundation of the society. A society where grades are worthless and certificates are thrash when you are a charcoal sellers’ son or a daughter of the numerous porters in our filthy markets whose taxes are used to pay these societal misfits branded as leaders. This is a malaise that must be eradicated in its entirety starting from grassroots to the “cremè de la cremè” class of the society.

The list goes on and on..

This calls for a change. Not a change of government but a change in our very attitudes and mindsets. We must dare to set ourselves apart from this system.

Don’t be a puppet of this system, defy the odds because you are born with greatness.

All has been heard and this is the truth of the matter, “The System” is more or less like living in a third world and the third world on the other hand is a state of the mind and until we are to change our mentality as Africans, we will never move forward- Prof Lumumba. It has always been the battle of the mind and our minds are already conquered. We have lugubrigous, doleful, dolorous, rueful and pathetic ways of life and thinking but it’s not over. Yes we can! Let’s focus on the focus as we cause the change.

This is a King Karl, Moses Addo(Mario) and an Okyere Boadu story

…these are the thoughts of young black boys…