Soft violence
I was asked a question on Social Media.
Who are the silenced?
Who are the oppressed?
The silenced are the many who have limited access to be in the conversation that affects them. This includes most of our creatures, The Earth, minorities whose small numbers diminish their voice. People under the burden of poverty. Those without access to needed infrastructure like the Internet and banking. Refugees and immigrants seeking to escape oppression, war, and climate-based floods, droughts or famine. Those who spend all the minutes of their days seeking simply to survive the day.
The oppressed – those under the intractable burden of poverty, debt, war not of their doing, apartheid, lack of access to housing, food, medicine and electricity. People of difference to the status quo and power – be that religion, skin colour, gender, education. Discarded children. Factory farm animals. Our Native forests.
When we silence and oppress – a form of soft violence – over time, after a breaking down of many – a few will rise up and turn on their oppressors.
When more than 60% of the financial wealth is held by less than 1% of the population, when our home planet becomes uninhabitable, oppression moves from the edges to the centre, and revolution is imminent.
Photo Taken October 19th 2023
