What Do You Want?

Rise up, rise up, rise up

“The wars will end and the leaders will shake hands, 
and that old woman will remain waiting for her martyred son, 
and that girl will wait for her beloved husband, 
and the children will wait for their heroic father. 
I do not know who sold the homeland, 
but I know who paid the price.” 

– Mahmoud Darwish

Lately, it feels like the world is obsessed with tearing itself apart. Everyone is so sure they’re right, so desperate to be on the “winning” side of something, that we’ve completely forgotten what we’re even fighting for. Sometimes I’m just scrolling through the news and… freeze. Like, what are we even doing? Did we all collectively agree that chaos is the newest trend and someone just forgot to CC the rest of us?

Every headline is the same, every damn day: wars, bombings, leaders pointing fingers like overgrown toddlers (pointless trade wars), and the usual speeches about “justice,” “freedom” or “peace.” Honestly, if I hear one more politician say “for a better future” with that fake serious face, I might scream into a pillow. It might just be my 13th reason why, honestly.

Do they even remember why they started fighting in the first place? Or is this just noise now? Like everyone’s on autopilot, press button, start war, waste lives, shrug. What’s the actual point? What do they even hope to gain? Bragging rights? A shiny new flag? A trophy that says, “Congrats, you ruined everything”?

And oh, the hypocrisy. We’re all a bit hypocritical, fine, we’re human, but dayummm, some people are basically professionals at it. Preachers talk about peace and forgiveness, then bless wars because apparently, God has a favorite army now. Leaders chant “hope” and “the future,” but look closer and it’s just a giant chessboard, except the pawns are actual people, like you and me, being shuffled around until we’re useless.

And us regular people? We get sold this dream: “Be bold! Dream big! Change the world!” but only if it’s the right kind of dream. A safe dream. God forbid you dare to actually be the ambitious, curious, outspoken person they hyped you up to be, suddenly it’s, “Afa, relax o.” Excuse me?? You gave me the pep talk! Why inspire me if you’re just gonna panic when I actually do the thing?

You know it’s absolutely ridiculous. And some days, I honestly just want to give up and join the “meh, nothing matters” squad. It’d be easier to scroll past everything, laugh at people still trying, and say, “Well, that’s just how the world works.” But I can’t. And trust me, I’ve tried. There’s this stubborn, irritating part of me that refuses to believe we’re completely broken. That humanity is just… done.

I keep imagining this place, not a real place obvi, but a way things could be. A world where survival doesn’t mean crushing someone else. Where kindness isn’t treated like some secret suspicious move. Where you can help someone without them squinting at you like, “So… what do you really want from me?” Where hope isn’t something you have to whisper because people will roll their eyes and call you childish. Just a place where being human–in all our messy, imperfect glory–is enough.

And yeah, I know it sounds unrealistic. Borderline delusional, even. But that’s what I stand for. Not governments. Not borders. Not slogans that trend for a week and vanish. I stand for people. For the version of us that hasn’t been chewed up by greed or fear yet. For the dreamers, the ones still building, creating, teaching, helping, or just smiling at strangers because maybe, just maybe, it makes someone’s day a little lighter.

People love to roll their eyes at that. “The world doesn’t work like that.” Maybe not. But who exactly decided the world has to stay this way? Every bit of progress we have now, the good stuff, the freedoms, the fact that we can even rant about this online without getting arrested in most places, came from someone who refused to accept “the way things are.” Someone stubborn enough to be called naive, and brave enough to keep going anyway.

And I think there are more of us than people realize. We’re everywhere. You probably know a few, you might even be one. We’re in cities, villages, classrooms, late-night coffee shops, running on caffeine and hope. We’re the ones quietly holding things together in ways that never make the news. The small acts. The little kindnesses. The belief, however fragile, that tomorrow can be better than today.

Maybe history won’t remember us. Maybe no one will write our names in books or build statues for us (which is fine, because statues are creepy anyway). But if the future ends up even a little better than this mess, it’ll be because of us. Because we didn’t quit. Because we kept trying when everyone else decided it was pointless.

And honestly? That’s enough for me. If all I ever do is hold one tiny piece of this world together, if the only difference I make is one person feeling less alone, or one small thing working better than it did before, I can live with that. Because I’d rather be the person who believed we were worth saving, and acted like it, than someone who gave up because it was easier.

God forgive me and help me, because I am going to build something that outlives me.

So yeah. Call me naive. I’ll take it. Because at least when everything’s falling apart, I can look myself in the mirror and say, “Well… at least you tried.”

Because if you stand for nothing, then what will you fall for?