Waiting for Our Land to Be Free

When is enough, enough? Having the endless pit of rejection can lead a person to do anything for extra money. The economy has been far from perfect for so many decades, and it seems like progress in regards to wealth is like climbing up a steep mountain. Where do we see the future jobs and money? Some say STEM (science, technology, engineering, and math), some create their own brands and businesses, and some decide to follow the new industries at any cost.

When the layers of identity stack up, it seems more and more challenging to meet financial ends. I believe what people really want to do with their lives is being stifled by the wish to make the most money. This was true for me, to be honest. When I was growing up I did horrifically in my elementary science courses, I was creative. I wanted to be an animator, a creator, an inventor, and I wanted to make people feel magical and the peak of every possible emotion.

I guess being young comes with nativity. Capitalism runs this world. So we run to the new industries that make the correct business sense. What it lacks though is the humanity. Let's take the fracking industry for instance. Fracking is the process of using machines to dig deep into the earth for oil. This industry provides profits to our poorest communities that anyone can become involved in. This business provides people that cannot make a living wage make over $100,000 per year. These are doctors and lawyers salaries!

This all sounds fabulous. The issue is that we need to dissect the real story happening here. It is called taking advantage. Big business is taking advantage of our poorest communities, the land, and our health. The facts do not lie. Fracking leads to radioactive waste being unearthed, can lead to birth-defects in children, and miscarriages. These painful truths should not be silenced. And if you layer on the factors of race, gender, sexual orientation, age, etc, then healthcare, jobs, and safety all become more limited. This complex process can be difficult to fathom. Why would our democracy allow us to damage our most vulnerable folks?

It's because of capitalism and greed. The ones with the most make false promises to the hard working and least financially stable. Fracking involves generally young men doing backbreaking work for a share of big businesses profits. Young women are impacted by fracking too. Not only being involved in the labor, but also being involved in a variety of "service" operations.

Native Americans were recently involved in a movement called the NoDapl. This is the Dakota Access Pipeline that would essentially uproot natives from their lands and pollute their water. Not only this, but fracking causes health issues. Our clean water is sacred. But this is not the first time recently that big business denied clean water to its inhabitants. Let's take Flint, Michigan. A predominantly poor and black population gets their water source contaminated by the state. This bold move to "save money" comes at the risk of disease and death for the vulnerable.

Fracking is tragic. It really is sad to see young people work for the wealthy like this. We have become trained to think that money is power and happiness. This lie has caused minority groups to get angry with one another. We are allowed to fight each other over scraps. And we have believed this for centuries. The truth is that when we realize that big business and capitalism is not a democratic system, then we can truly become " The land of the free."