We Were Never Meant to Win—So Let’s Change That

The world wasn’t built for people like us. It wasn’t designed for those who think too much, who see the cracks, who refuse to fall in line. The game is rigged, the rules shift whenever we get close, and no matter how hard we push, the doors stay locked.

They tell us, “Just work harder. Just be smarter. Just grind.” But what if it’s not about work? What if it’s not about intelligence? What if the system was never meant to let us in?

The American Dream is a myth—a fantasy designed to keep us running in place. Work hard, follow the rules, and success will come. That’s what they tell us. But for people like us—the ones born without a safety net, without connections, without a second chance—it’s a lie. They say we can rebuild, but the cost of starting over is a price most of us will never afford. No credit? No capital? No opportunities? Then you’re stuck.

And they act like it’s about personal responsibility, as if we all had the same choices. Be born into privilege? Never slip up? Know the right people? They hand out second chances to the people who never needed them. For the rest of us? Keep waiting. Keep struggling. Keep fighting for a shot we were never supposed to get.

The people at the top aren’t brilliant. They aren’t special. They just had a head start, and they make damn sure no one else catches up. Musk, Bezos, the billionaires—they don’t innovate, they monopolize. They don’t create, they consume. They profit off a system that thrives on desperation. They want us fighting for scraps, exhausted, easy to manipulate. They want us divided so we never realize that they are the ones keeping us down. They sell us convenience, technology, the illusion of progress, but every step forward is another leash around our necks.

They’re building a world where they own everything and we rent our place in it. They make sure survival costs money, and money is a privilege. Try starting a business with nothing. Try getting ahead when every door is locked. Try playing by the rules when the rules weren’t written for you. And when we still find a way to fight back, they say, “You should have done things differently.” Differently how? Been born rich? Had a clean record? Had the right last name?

They don’t want us to win. They want us to be desperate. Because desperate people work for less. Desperate people don’t question. Desperate people keep the machine running while they sit at the top, raking it in. They sell us the lie that hard work alone is enough, but if effort was the answer, the hardest workers wouldn’t be broke.

They don’t want us to win because if we did, we wouldn’t need them anymore.

But here’s the thing: we don’t need them now. We never did. We need each other.

They taught us to compete, to see every other struggling person as an enemy instead of an ally. But what if we flipped that? What if we stopped waiting for leaders and started leading ourselves? What if we took care of each other instead of waiting for crumbs from their table?

We don’t need billionaires. We don’t need saviors. We need community. We need people willing to share knowledge, to trade skills, to build something new outside of their system. We need to show up for each other—not just in struggle, but in success. We need to stop waiting for permission to thrive.

And let’s be real—I struggle too. I fight my own battles, and keeping my mind in check is part of that. Some days are harder than others. No one is perfect, and I sure as hell am not. But if there’s one thing I know, it’s that I’m not giving up. And neither should you. We don’t have to be perfect to make a difference. We just have to show up, for ourselves and for each other.

No one is coming to save us. But together, we can save ourselves.

We weren’t meant to win by playing their game. We win by rewriting the rules. By refusing to be another cog in their machine. I don’t have their money, but I have my mind. My ideas. My refusal to quit. And as long as I’m still here, I’ll keep fighting. But I don’t want to do it alone. We shouldn’t have to.

They think they own the future.

Let’s take it back—together.