https://www.caitlinjohnst.one/p/if-you-want-to-help-the-world-focus
Caitlin Johnstone
Nov 22, 2024

Listen to a reading of this article (reading by Tim Foley):

Become a soldier because you want to be of service and you will discover that being a soldier doesn’t work the way it’s depicted in movies and shows. You’re not a hero defending your country from murderous thugs, you are the murderous thugs, and the people you are murdering are trying to defend their country from you.

Become a cop because you want to be of service and you will discover that being a cop doesn’t work the way it’s depicted in movies and shows. Your job isn’t to protect people from crime, your job is to protect a system whose very existence is criminal, and none of the worst people in your society ever go to prison.

Become a lawyer because you want to be of service and you will discover that being a lawyer doesn’t work the way it’s depicted in movies and shows. The laws aren’t there to protect ordinary people from the worst among us, they are there to protect the worst among us from ordinary people.

Become a politician because you want to be of service and you will discover that being a politician doesn’t work the way it’s depicted in movies and shows. The power and influence you can wield in politics is directly proportionate to your willingness to compromise and collaborate with the plutocrats, interest groups and power structures who are causing the very problems you’re trying to solve in the first place.

Become a journalist because you want be of service and you will discover that being a journalist doesn’t work the way it’s depicted in movies and shows. The job of the media in your society are not to report the truth and hold power to account but to propagandize the citizenry into accepting status quo politics and consenting to acts of mass military slaughter around the world, and you can only rise to success in the press to the extent that you are willing to help generate that propaganda.

Become a teacher because you want be of service and you will discover that being a teacher doesn’t work the way it’s depicted in movies and shows. As a teacher your job is to lie to the next generation about their nation, their government, their history and their world and indoctrinate them into trusting their government and news media.

Become a therapist because you want be of service and you will discover that being a therapist doesn’t work the way it’s depicted in movies and shows. A huge amount of the anxiety and depression your clients bring you cannot be resolved in therapy because they arise from the poverty, toil and lack of support which is built into the abusive and exploitative society in which we live.

Become a social worker because you want be of service and you will discover that being a social worker doesn’t work the way it’s depicted in movies and shows. Again and again you will fail to secure your clients the resources they desperately need because your government doesn’t care about them and your society flushes anyone who can’t be used to generate a profit down the toilet.

Try to make movies and shows which tell the truth about the kind of society we live in, and you will discover that the only way movies and shows get produced and placed before a large audience is if they promote the class interests of the wealthy people who control the major studios and platforms. Hollywood is one giant propaganda service for empire and capitalism.

We live in a civilization built of lies and abuse, powered by lies and abuse, and defended using lies and abuse. Even the most kindhearted and well-intentioned among us struggle to bring about positive change, because the very fabric of our society is stacked against truth and kindness.

Do you wish to be of service? Do you want to help the world? Then focus your energy on fighting against the status quo power structure which makes it so difficult to serve and to help. Do everything you can to help foment a revolutionary zeitgeist in opposition to militarism, capitalism, imperialism, authoritarianism, and the mainstream politics and media which make these abuses possible.

Work on opening people’s eyes to the lies and abuse which sustain the tyrannical power structure we all live under, and open their hearts to the possibility that it doesn’t need to be this way. The more eyes and hearts are opened in this way, the closer the people get to using the power of their numbers to force the emergence of a healthy world.