The power in this world has always been in the hands of the few. Tribe leaders with the most mates. Kings who killed with impunity. CEOs who bend financial systems to their will while screwing over everyone else.
For most of history, their power had limits. Armies could only march so far. Secrets could only travel as fast as a horse. Oppression required effort.
Not anymore.
Today, humanity has built the perfect cage for itself. At the push of a button, we can end all life. With a screen in every pocket, we can manipulate the masses. Surveillance has reached levels once reserved for science fiction. Data harvested from your every click, swipe, and scroll is being used to predict your next move, sell you your next distraction, and nudge you toward obedience.
And what did we do in the face of this? We said yes. We signed away our autonomy for movies on demand and free pornography. We chose convenience over freedom, entertainment over agency. We didn’t even have to be beaten into submission—we walked willingly into the trap.
So is hope for the common man lost?
Only if we let it be.
Because the same system that enslaves us also leaks power. The internet that spies on us is also the internet that connects us. The phones that addict us can also be used to organise, to expose, to resist. And history shows that concentrated power always produces resistance. Always.
The real question isn’t “is hope lost?”—it’s “do we care enough to fight for it?”
The ruling class is terrified of one thing: unity. That’s why they flood us with distractions, pit us against each other, and reduce us to passive consumers. Divide, pacify, numb. Bread and circuses 2.0.
But power still lies where it always has—in numbers, in attention, in narrative.
- Attention: Stop feeding their machine. Every click, every view, every second of your time is a resource. Use it wisely.
- Numbers: Alone, we are weak. Together, we are unstoppable. They know this, which is why they invest so heavily in keeping us apart.
- Narrative: Kings are forgotten, but stories endure. Every act of defiance, every truth spoken, every refusal to submit builds the story of resistance.
Hope isn’t dead. Autonomy isn’t gone. But they are both under siege.
The question is whether we will fight back—or keep scrolling.
