Adaptation

I have never been into Africa, I live in South Africa but I’ve never been into Africa. I watched a show on BBC Knowledge tonight about Lagos, Nigeria and some of the people that live there. Lagos is suffering from growing pains just like many other African countries and we are all well aware of how people are forced to live in cruel conditions. There is a massive dump site on the outskirts of Lagos (as there are in all major cities) but what makes this one so unique is that there is an entire economy built around recycling. People support their families from what the rich discard. It struck me how intelligently they are adapting to their realities. People build their houses from items we wouldn’t think twice about throwing out on the street.

Nigeria is one the most “oil rich” countries on our continent which brings with it barrels of corruption. Foreign countries are in charge of the oil mining and distribution it is only natural that locals would also want a “piece of the pie” which makes the perfect recipe for crime and corruption. This makes me curious: Oil money is considered to be “above board” yet it is the number one cause of war. The government promotes war because it rakes in billions of dollars in profit from the supply of weapons. The black market racketeers that control the illegal passports, weapons and human slavery are the same people that control the illegal drug trade and are the same people that keep the oil industry alive; there is clearly no separation between what we consider the black market and the “white market”. Money is money.

We all sit high up on our thrones judging criminals, drug addicts and the corrupt government yet we all continue to fill our cars with petrol and buy products that use massive amounts of petroleum to produce so therefore we are direct supporters of the same industry that promotes human trafficking, weapons and drugs. This means there is nothing separating you and me from the black market.

The same argument comes up every time: “Well what am I supposed to do, run my car on fuckin grape juice?” Of course not, we are deemed powerless to a point when it comes to petrol, but the major shift that is happening in the world right now requires everyone to change their own perceptions from the inside out. We are all experiencing growing pains, just like Lagos, Nigeria. We have all been exposed to the same media and we know what is happening to our planet. This is not a rant to get you to recycle or ride a bicycle to work, but maybe we can learn from the scavengers living on the edge of the dump, maybe we can adapt to our surroundings in the same spirit and be a part of the revolution happening right now on planet earth.