We tell ourselves that we have a fundamental human right to comfort. To security. That polite service at a McDonalds and cheap gas for our cars are basic human needs. That business class airfare and fresh fruit in winter and this damn iPhone I’m writing on are things we cannot live without.

And all the while, we let the true fundamental human rights be exploited and destroyed to support our privilege. We let migrant farmers starve to death while growing our food. We let the homeless freeze steps away from our artificially warmed rooms. We let children across the world go hungry while we throw away a third of the food we produce. We let ecosystems and species be destroyed in our quest for a growing market and cheap gas for our fancy cars.

Mindless privilege at the expense of others is not a human right.

And at the end of it all, will it be worth it? Will any of it? All the people I hurt so I could live a quiet, sheltered life that I don’t deserve?

Because sometimes, I think about the next world. The one my father believes in. The one where the last will be first and the first will be last.

Because when we are last, what mercy will we be shown? We have shown none.

When we’re the ones begging for mercy, for food, for a roof over our heads, when we’re the ones who are forced to watch as others celebrate while we are left in the cold - what will we do then? Will we cry? Will we plead, knowing our prayers will never be answered - never be answered because they go against the grain of capitalism and the good old Western free market?

Maybe the words will sound different when they are coming from our mouths.