“Because people have begun to lose their hopes and forget their dreams. So, the Nothing grows stronger.”
The Neverending Story (1984)
This is exactly why speculative fiction is important
This is why taking a break for downtime is important
This is why being able to daydream and wander, is important
Without hope and dreams, we can’t even consider that a better world is possible
And that is exactly the point of overworking and underpaying us.
Michael Ende, who wrote The Neverending Story, also wrote Momo, where the villains are little grey men who convince you to “save time” by cutting out everything fun and meaningful in your life. But you never get the saved time back, the little men smoke it.
This is why over-scheduling generations of kids is horrible. No time to wander. To time to daydream. No idea what to do with unscheduled time. And vague feelings of guilt if you’re not constantly doing something useful.
We cannot keep telling disabled and mentally ill people that “maybe someday, if you work really hard, you can become a valuable person.” We’re valuable NOW. Even if we can’t work. Even if we can’t study. Even if we need help. Even if we can’t provide for ourselves. Even if we struggle. Even if we fail. Our worth is inherent because we’re here and we’re human and we cannot live a happy life on the hope that maybe someday we can become good enough for society. We’re already worthy and valuable as we are and we need y'all to acknowledge that.
– Okay, but what if it all blows up? What if we end up making each other freaking miserable, you know? What if I hurt you?
– What if our plane crashes and what if we nosedive into the ocean, and you know, end up stranded, and what if we wind up lost and starving? All of that already happened. The worst has already fucking happened. I don’t think I’ve got it in me to get that scared about something that could be good.
