The Enemy is One – and It Is Not Us

patriarchy. you know, that all-overshadowing social and political system that wants nothing else but keep us occupied with internal squabbles so we are kept unaware of how it is stealing our lives and our power.

patriarchy is the biggest and most violent equal opportunist monster there is. patriarchy has no gender, no race, no religion, no sexuality, no class, no ethnicity, it never did and it never will. patriarchy is gender-less and impersonal, colorless and indifferent.

as long as we keep ‘comparing notes’ on who is the most disadvantaged, abused and raped, who is the most victimized and vilified, patriarchy has won.

the Enemy is only one and E is winning while we fight each other. for me there has ever only been one enemy.

that one enemy has  managed to deceive us into believing that there are all those ranks, hierarchies and social structures that are trying to butt in on our specific turf or excluding us from some other turf, depriving us of our rights and our equality.

this is a lie. if we constantly assign power to others based on their  gender, race, religion, sexuality, class, ethnicity or (dis)ability, while claiming ourselves powerless, everyone of us will end up being powerless. that is what patriarchy wants.

i cannot convince someone to join me by alienating them with demands of special victim-hood status, i cannot convince people not yet aware/awake to wake up by yelling at them that they are stupid sheeple. i cannot make an ally out of someone i approach with contempt because of their gender, race, religion, sexuality, class, ethnicity or (dis)ability.

yes, we may disagree about the details, the interconnected issues and what not – but if we start attacking each other and judge each other as ‘not worthy’, we are playing right into patriarchy’s hands, and all we accomplish is a whole lot of hurt and loneliness, while patriarchy keeps on eating our hearts and souls.

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