Lately I’ve been thinking about the world we’re living in — not just the headlines, but the deeper feeling underneath everything. People everywhere are searching for happiness, for peace, for a sense that their lives matter. And I keep coming back to a simple belief: one person can make a difference. We all can. But only if we choose to.
When I look around, though, it’s hard to ignore how much of the world’s pain comes from a very small group of powerful men and the loyal circles that protect them. Their decisions ripple outward, shaping the lives of millions. Their motivations — control, greed, ego — leave entire nations paying the price.
We see it clearly in Putin and the people around him. An unprovoked war against Ukraine, driven by ambition and the hunger to dominate. A war that has torn families apart, shattered peace, and stolen futures. All for the benefit of one man and the enablers who stand beside him.
And in different ways, we see similar patterns in other leaders — Trump, Xi, Putin — figures who have used influence to shape narratives, reward allies, punish critics, and consolidate control. Their enablers benefit from proximity to power, from policies that enrich them, from systems designed to keep them on top. But ordinary people carry the burden.
It makes me wonder:
How much does a person need before they finally feel satisfied? Is happiness really found in wealth? In dominance? In the ability to dictate how millions should think or feel?
Control is the engine behind every autocratic system. The need to command. The need to silence. The need to decide for others what their lives should look like. Freedom is the opposite — not chaos, but choice. Not disorder, but dignity.
So when do the enablers — the ones who see the damage up close — finally step away from the darkness they help maintain? When do they stop allowing a handful of men to cast a shadow over the world? When do they choose humanity over ambition?
There’s a piece of writing I want to share — not mine, but something that struck me deeply. I hope it does the same for you.
“A Handful of Dust”
“I was walking alone; in my heart there was sadness. I needed the answer, to this world full of Madness, as I stood in the darkness of gloom and despair a light came from Heaven, and a stranger stood there. A handfull of dust, or a crown of gold, what will you choose said he? I looked at the stranger, with a nod of his head, spoke words of wisdom to me, Gold is temptation, greed and desire, It’s yours for the asking said he, But for me and my fold give us the dust not the gold for only the sheep can be led. Dust is the earth, from whence we came, the trees and the flowers, the wheat and the grain, the grass soft as velvet that grows on the hills, dust can be life, but you must have the will. So will you exchange, a year for a day a life everlasting, for a handful of pay. It’s your choice to make, so choose life or lust. I looked at the stranger, chose a handful of dust.”
There’s wisdom in those lines — a reminder that the real value in life isn’t found in crowns of gold or the pursuit of control. It’s found in the dust we come from, the life we build, the choices we make.
If we want the world to return to the path we’re meant to walk, we have to choose differently. We have to choose humanity over greed, freedom over control, and responsibility over silence.
The choice is still ours. It always has been.
— Andrew Hahn
Founder, The Hairy Times
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