The System Of The Sale

For the sale, by the sale

a crowd goes hysterical trying to grab the few dollar bills slipping through a mountain of them held by two giant hands above them, digital art — by DALL·E

There is an energy crisis, but energy companies turn in record profits. The cost of living has never been higher, but banks’ wealth reach unprecedented heights. Geopolitical events cause a shortage in fuel and raw materials, which causes the offer to decrease as the demand remains high. We are told these are the ways of the free market, that nature is brutal too, and that we must weather the storm as well as we can. However, when we see that some of the players are always ahead of the rest, we wonder whether the market is not so free after all. Perhaps the principal reason for the energy price increase is the record profits energy companies must turn — that is their game. Perhaps, the increase in the cost of living is triggered by the banks’ need to present higher numbers every quarter — that is their goal.

Indeed, our system sees profits as the human raison d’être. As long as the money flows, most people will be happy. We sell democracy and freedom, but the selling part is the most indicative of our current ethos. Selling is what we do. We are the slaves of the sale, for the sale, by the sale. This system — or at least a similar version — might be sustainable if it were conducive to spreading wealth, but its main flaw is that it tends to concentrate it. Any group of people’s bottom line (organisations, corporations, communities…