On Systems and How they Feed on those who Try to Infiltrate them

I’ve found that many people fail at their attempts to dismantle unjust systems because they think they can beat the system by joining the system first. Want to destroy capitalism? Get rich first. Want to remove a corrupt government? Join parliament or run for president. Want to end racism? Integrate into white society and make them see that POC are really not that bad, then you can prepare a place for the rest.

But it never works out. Of course.

Oppressive systems exist because they benefit a group(s) of people at another’s cost. Joining flawed systems, especially as an individual, with the hope of changing them is as fruitless as trying to turn a lion vegetarian. 

The thing you demand that the system give up is the very thing that keeps it going, so why would it?

Oppressive systems are willing to assimilate one or two from the oppressed class; to absorb them into their collective mass because they know that little drop of red will never make a difference in a sea of yellow. 

And, because humans are not infallible, because all our pursuits, at their crux, are for the betterment of our being, be it physical or mental, those who go to infiltrate the systems are instead lured by the comforts they find there, and they become complacent with their radicalism. Once they’ve “transcended” the divisions that led you to enter the system – race, political affiliation, religion – they realise that there are other divisions that are the actual crux of the matter. Money. Power. And, because they have been assimilated into the system, these automatically belong to a different class from those they originally fought for.

Oppressive systems can never be dismantled by lone soldiers on the inside. They need to be taken apart from the outside, dismantled until the last brick is dust. Revolution is a collective effort. There cannot be one Messiah. There cannot be one shepherd and a flock. There must be a pack.

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