Chatting with my son in the middle of the blackout

By Sergio Rodriguez Gelfenstein, Caracas / Venezuela

Terrorist forces caused last Friday, the 30th blackout of more than 9 that affected the Caracas area as well as a major part of Venezuela. In my house too, the lights went off, there was no electricity, no internet nor water. My 8-year-old son asked me what was happening and how that was possible?

Knowing his intelligence and sagacity and knowing that he would not be satisfied with trivial and superficial answers, I set out to try to explain the situation to him. I spoke to him about the meaning of the words dignity, honor and pride. I explained to him that he, like the Liberator Simón Bolívar, had been born in Caracas, Venezuela and that our behavior entailed a commitment to his memory.

Furthermore, I told him that unfortunately, there were bad men and women in the world who were happy to hurt others. I told him that in the United States they did very nice things for the enjoyment of children, such as the wonderful amusement parks that exist in Florida, but that at the same time, the government of that country was sending money and weapons so that a government also made up of bad people could kill children in Palestine. I told him that in less than a year, almost 30,000 children had been killed by the governments of Israel and the United States. I explained to him that this was like killing all the children in 30 schools like his. I told him that American leaders hate the children of the world, and that the humble people and children of the United States were the first victims of their government. I explained to him that in that country, to become a leader, you had to be a millionaire and that their main business was war and the sale of weapons.

That is why they send people to kill through henchmen and accomplices like Zelenskyy, Machado, Pinochet, Somoza and Netanyahu. That is also why they cut off our electricity, water and internet, because their happiness is based on hatred of humanity and of course of children who, like him, cannot play, watch television or see their favorite programs. That is why we must do the opposite, love and help others, regardless of what they are or what they think.

I explained to him that the United States government had ordered the assassination of Chilean President Salvador Allende.

“Dad, is Allende the one in the photo in your study?”, he asked me.

Yes, son, next to that of Nicaraguan General Augusto C. Sandino, also assassinated on the orders of the United States government. “And why do you have their photos?”, he continued.

Because they are an example, son, an example of what we should be and how we should act in life.

I also have a painting of Simon Bolivar. The United States did not like him, because, as the Liberator wanted all Latin American countries to be united, they invented an idea to appropriate our wealth and keep us disunited.

“Dad, is this always going to be like this?”

No, son, what is happening is going to pass because the majority of men and women on the planet are good, they want to work, build, live in peace and love their wives and husbands, their fathers and mothers and above all their children.

My son asked me: “Dad, why do they do that?”

I explained to him that they did it for the desire for excessive profit, which was not a natural condition of human beings. Then a question came up that I should have foreseen:

“Dad, what is excessive profit?”

It is obtaining unnecessary material gains, son, just by assuming that this is how happiness is achieved.

I also told him that this is possible because even though the laws establish that in society, we are all equal, in practice this is not true. That there were many children in the world who did not have food, electricity, water, school, internet, or the possibility of playing and having fun because 1% of humanity did not want them to have it.

My son asked me what 1% meant. I had to tell him to imagine that there were 100 seats in his school auditorium for a cultural activity, and that only one person occupied 62 seats, while the other 99 had to sit very tightly in the remaining 38 seats.

He told me that this was not right because those people would be uncomfortable even though there were enough seats for everyone, and that this was unfair. So I was forced to explain to him that this was precisely the problem: injustice in the world and – before he asked me – I pointed out that the cause was something called capitalism.

“What does capitalism mean, Dad?”

It means that many millions of people work and produce, and a few people misappropriate that work and production to make a profit. It also means that for capitalists, making excess money and saving it is more important than using that money so that children don’t have to work, so that there are schools for everyone, so that when they get sick there are hospitals to take care of them, so that they can eat every day and play with their friends.

I told him that those evil gentlemen and ladies of the United States and of a continent ruled by very savage and uncivilized people called Europe wanted to be happy at the expense of the rest of humanity, being in permanent wars and suffering hardships and misery. I told him that one of those gentlemen, called Borrell, had said that Europe was a garden and that the rest of the world was a jungle, when history showed the opposite.

I told him that Europe had given rise to the worst in human history: slavery, racism, the most brutal wars ever, and ideas that promote hatred, such as Nazism, Zionism, and fascism (before he asked me what that was, I told him that at another time, when he was older, I would explain it to him in detail) and that these ideas drove and drive the murder and persecution of millions of people, including many children. This is what they are doing today in Ukraine, in Palestine, in Haiti, and also in Venezuela. Likewise, in a country as rich as Argentina, thousands of children are starving because these gentlemen invented theories that today the president of that country uses to justify the impoverishment and misery of that people who are brothers to Venezuela.

I explained to him that in this situation, the victims were the children of the United States and Europe, because through television and the so-called “networks” they are taught to hate and kill. That is why you see in the news that there are so many massacres in schools in the United States. And that is why I tell you, son, that you have to be very careful with the television and the programs on the tablet because what they transmit is usually more bad than good.

At this point, my son asked me:”Dad, what can be done?”

Son, all we have left is to fight, resist and do whatever is necessary to make the world more just, so that all children are healthy, can eat every day, play and go to school. However, I warned him that capitalism does not want it to be like this, so the struggle will be long and hard.

I told him that at some point, neither his mother nor I will be there and that he, who is a kind child, who shares everything he has, who is respectful – although a little undisciplined at times – who does not give much value to the material things he possesses, who loves his parents, his family and his friends, should in the future, be a good man who should also fight for that better world to which we all aspire. I told him that life has no meaning if that is not done.

In this way, you can make a contribution – even if it is small – so that bad guys do not continue to cause blackouts, do not cut off water or electricity to families and so that in the future, children can play and be happy.