Fat In the Land of Plenty

Sometime ago, I was fat in the land of Plenty. I lived on the Savanna, and worshipped the ancestors. Sometime ago, a horde of barbarians came to the Savanna, They called me “Savage”. Yet I had no idea of what “Savage” meant. So I asked the ancestors, “What is a savage?” And the ancestors said to me, “It is what you will become if you do not fight the horde with all of your might!” But I did not listen. And I became greedy, and struck a deal with the horde. I said, “I may be savage, but I will give you many savages, and you give me gold coin”. And the barbarians smiled. Sometime ago, a horde of barbarians took my brothers and sisters to a new land. And made them into “savages”. And now they walk the streets of their own neighborhoods, seeing whom they may devour. And me, I did not receive gold coin from the barbarians. Rather, I received a shanty and diamonds that I couldn’t touch, and oil that was no longer mine. Rather, I received prisons with salt water, when I spoke against apartheid. And I am thin in the land of plenty. Barbarians now hunt on my Savanna, and call me a poacher if I do the same. Barbarians call my brothers and sisters to the west “street savages”. Yet they watch people die inside from exclusion. Yet they watch people die outside from frostbite. Yet they watch people struggling to pay medical bills, and scream, “No Taxes!” Yet they watch people struggling to pay mortgages and scream, “My hard earned money won’t support those dag on shiftless savages!” Even though some time ago, they sat inside while such savages made them an empire. Even though it is not just savages, but barbarians too, who can’t pay their mortgages. But me, I am thin in the land of plenty. I am thin, and getting thinner. But soon, soon, I will remember what the ancestors told me. I will remember to fight with all of my might. Not with spears or swords or guns, the way of old. But with my mind! With logic, with reason, and with the mighty power of the ancestors. I will overthrow the way of the barbarians. And I will be fat in the land of plenty.