BECOMING THE OPPRESSOR - by Àdàññé Çhísóm

We all saw that picture of the elderly woman sitting on the floor beside a comfortable sofa, holding a bag. People were angry. WhatsApp statuses were on fire. One of my friends posted it with: “May we not be treated this way.” And I replied: “May we also not be in the position to treat someone that way.” He probably didn't understand why I said that. But let me explain. This guy has two other friends. One of them doesn't have as much financially as the other two. At first, I didn't think much of it. Friends ask friends for favours, after all. But then I noticed that this particular friend was always the one being sent around. “My guy, go buy fuel.” “Go buy food for me.” “Go and buy my babe food.” “Go and buy water.” “Take my clothes to the laundry.” “Take money and help me buy this.” And it wasn't happening equally among the three friends. It was mostly the friend with less money who was doing all these things. That's when I started wondering: Is it really just friendship and favours, or has his financial situation made his time and effort seem less valuable? Now imagine the friend who already has more suddenly becomes even richer. Imagine he gains more influence, more connections, more money and more power than he ever had before. What happens then? If someone already feels entitled to another person's time simply because they have more than them, what happens when that advantage becomes even greater? Would he become more considerate? Or would the extra power make him even more comfortable treating people beneath him however he pleases? That's what I wanted my friend to think about. Because we are very quick to condemn people when we see someone being humiliated, mistreated or looked down on. But how often do we stop to ask ourselves whether we are doing smaller versions of the same thing to the people around us? Power doesn't always change people. Sometimes, it simply gives them more freedom to reveal who they already are. So before we say, “May we never be treated this way,” perhaps we should also ask: “If I had more power than I have today, would I become the kind of person I currently condemn?” Because the frightening part isn't always that the tables might turn. Sometimes, it's wondering what someone would do if the table became entirely theirs. And perhaps that's the real lesson: Never let having more make you believe someone else is worth less.

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