What is the biggest dream of a slave? We think it is freedom, but as philosopher Nietzsche pointed out, the biggest dream of a slave is not freedom, but to become a slave for himself. And the day a slave gets his own slave, he forgets that he was once controlled.
You see this everywhere: someone who has been raised under harsh authority will repeat it when they gain authority. Mothers who were once mistreated by their families may mistreat their daughters or daughters-in-law. Workers who once hated exploitation may exploit others when they become managers. When someone’s identity is shaped by hierarchy, instead of escaping it, their goal becomes moving up in the hierarchy.
Everyone wishes to become a millionaire, own a yacht, and buy a sports car. But no one questions the unjust system of capitalism, which doesn’t reward hard work, but rather the ownership of assets. A cobbler who does not own assets but works every day and gets his hands dirty makes minimal profits. But a billionaire who barely works and owns multiple stocks and properties makes enormous profits. People want to climb the financial ladder, but do not criticize the income inequality that capitalism brings. This can also be seen in the surge of misandry. Many women, distraught by the ill effects of patriarchy in the modern world as well as in history, resort to misandry, otherwise known as pseudo-feminism. Unlike feminism, which believes in equality between men and women, misandry is the belief that women are superior to men.
An ordinary man who climbs up the financial ladder by transitioning from earning income as a labourer to owning profitable assets never blames capitalism. This reflects a common mindset: “I don’t hate the system as long as I benefit from it.” Great are those who see light through the cracks of the system.
Nelson Mandela once said, “Depths of oppression create heights of character.” Humans realise the importance of something only when it is absent. We realise the worth of freedom when we are restrained, the importance of liberty when we are enslaved, and the importance of compassion when we are dehumanised. Enlightened individuals realise that the common enemy is not the elite, but the system that allowed them to become elites. The elites will die, but the system may not. Many visionaries choose not to climb the hierarchy but to end it altogether.
A real-life example of this is apartheid in South Africa. Nelson Mandela and other freedom fighters never wished to oppress white people in revenge, but instead worked to build a system of equality.
So, the answer to the question of what the biggest dream of a slave is depends entirely on his or her moral compass. Human thought cannot be confined to a single ideology; it is subjective to every individual. Some may wish to have a slave for themselves, but many would wish for the abolition of slavery for everyone, including future generations. And of course, the latter stands as more virtuous.
Circumstances do not just make the man; they reveal him to himself. Only in the deepest pits of life, where he has nothing but himself, does a man discover his true nature: his resilience, his morals, and his determination. And in the depths of oppression, a slave reveals his true values: his desire for vengeance or his desire for liberation and the greater good for all.
Arfa Khan
Grade 11
Ahlcon Public School
