Comic Strips

Depending on your skin color, the predators are more like parasites. End result is the same, one just gets there faster.

In 2023 I had cancer. The only time in my life I felt privledge was then.

My family got me out of my dads house, which was infested with black mold and rats. It has a failing roof, that when it rains outside, it rains inside.

I had been living in those conditions for years to save money to buy a house. My dad refused to let us help him. The city offers a free roof replacement program to seniors. He refused. He's still living in those conditions.

So when I was diagnosed with cancer, my sister said "we gotta get you out of that house". My natural instinct was to stay and save more money. Not having bills is actually a HUGE advantage. But instantly I knew she was right. These conditions were literally killing me.

So my family actually paid my rent in a new apartment for a year. I had no job. I had no income. My family paid my rent, and I was just home all day.

I was weak from the cancer treatments. I felt like some days I could just fall asleep mid-day, and take a 3 hour nap, and that was fine. Who's schedule was I breaking?

My body was always tired. The folfox drug was literally destroying my body cells from the inside. Thats what it's designed to do. Some days I felt sick to the point where I was going to throw up, but never did.

But even with all that, I noticed one thing.

I'd had suicidal thoughts my whole life. Since I was 5 years old. I've been grumpy, and hated life, and hated people. Now, in 2023, I could go a whole 2 weeks and not see anyone until it was time to go get chemo again. And I realized I couldn't have been happier.

Even with all the bullshit going on with my body, even with how awful I felt on a physical level, I was the happiest I'd ever been on a mental level.

I woke up when I wanted. I watched baseball everyday. I ate cereal straight from the box as a snack. I had time to keep my apartment clean. And for the first time in my (at the time) 39 year old life, my family cared about me enough to check in.

All the depression I had my whole life vaporized. I felt like a new me. I felt like shit physically, but I felt amazing mentally.

This is the society the wealthy have crafted for us. A society which brings us all down. A society where people attack people. Sometimes physically, but even just mentally. We feel the need to guard ourselves, because everyone is out to get us. And there are those who feel the need to belittle others to make themselves feel better.

This is the world we live in.