The Right to the Village

We live in an era where ideals of human rights took centre stage both politically and ethically. We live in a world where the rights of private property and profit dominate all other notions of rights one can think of. Occasionally, people gather together to fight for their rights, being either workers, women, LGBT and other minorities and they also occasionally succeeded. How about we collectively demand the right to the village?

The village we once knew and lived in, no longer exist. The village is losing its identity. Old buildings are being replaced by awful and soulless structures. The green has been replaced by either concrete grey or asphalt black. The giggle sound of children playing in the village streets have been replaced by deafening clutter of heavy construction mechanical machines. The ringing of bicycle bells is gone and instead we welcomed the horn noises of traffic jams. The skyline from our roof tops is now full of mechanical giraffes lifting & delivering material in a new construction jungle. 

We need to create a new urban life that is less alienated, more meaningful and more playful. Our traditional village is now dressed with consumerist and capitalist coats. It is the victim of the rampant capitalist development. The victim of the ongoing need to dispose of the never-ending cumulative capital sprawling urban spaces irrespective of the social impact on the community. Our open spaces have been devoured by productive and residential blocks. We as villagers are losing our relationship with our own village. We need to recreate the new world we live in.

In the past decade we witnessed mass protests in various streets around the world where citizens expressed their disgust towards the system that is gradually robbing them from their rights. Is it time we hit the streets to claim back our village? We, as citizens of the planet, have the right to live in a healthy environment. We have the right to have recreational green spaces. We have the right to live without the deafening sounds of construction machines. We have the right to breath clean air free of construction dust.

As citizens we have the right to the village that no longer exist.