Chocolate's double-edged sword

Can we say to the entire world, "Reset your Password". Stop doing all the horrible things and become a champion for goodness and wholesale change for the betterment of our species. I intend to change my password, please join me in my quest for a safer world. Reset your password along with me.

Are we living in a world which is not real, as scientists have recently come to have us believe. Then if so, why should we worry about wrong or right, good or bad, rich or poor, fair or unfair or even the love of chocolate and its sharp double-edged sword.

With some two million children involved in the farming of cocoa in West Africa, child slavery and trafficking associated with the cocoa trade remain major concerns. A 2018 report argued that international attempts to improve conditions for children were doomed to failure because of persistent poverty, absence of schools, increasing world cocoa demand, more intensive farming of cocoa, and continued exploitation of child labor.(Wiki)

Everything in life comes with two sides to the story. Cheap labor in China and the world over, providing the planet with a myriad of different products. Underpaid and underworked workers everywhere, toiling away, fighting hard to better their lives while surviving on a day-to-day basis. Diamond miners in Africa and elsewhere, hardship in Caribbean countries, coal miners, crop pickers, Alaskan truckers and so much more. Life can be hard and cruel. Even much more so depending on your life situation and where in the world you happen to be. Some of us are much more fortunate than others.

Unfortunately, there is no time soon where conditions are likely to change drastically for many people. The reality of life is that everything is inter-connected. We all are slated to play a specific role in the fabric of the cycle of life. Some will be masters, some will work for the masters. Some will toil, some will be celebrities, entertainers, entrepreneurs, millionaires, billionaires, and there will always be less fortunate souls. I am unsure if traffickers of lives and drugs and other vices were originally a part of the great agenda which was woven into this grand scheme of things. A paradox exists as to the interconnectivity theory. Maybe it just makes us feel justified when we feel completely incapable of changing much. I believe and will always say, change begins with just one 'Random act of kindness' as has been said.

We can debate for years to come the fairness or unfairness of the inequality of the make-up of the fabric of our time. There will be no quick fix, if there ever will be a fix. Life will be content to march on while people will still be living in their various roles, will adapt to their roles as we march on to whatever drummer we are assigned to listen to.

Chocolate is a food made from roasted and ground cacao seed kernels that is available as a liquid, solid, or paste, either on its own or as a flavoring agent in other foods. Cacao has been consumed in some form since at least the Olmec civilization (19th-11th century BCE), and the majority of Mesoamerican people ─ including the Maya and Aztecs ─ made chocolate beverages.

Although cocoa originated in the Americas, West African countries, particularly Côte d'Ivoire and Ghana, are the leading producers of cocoa in the 21st century, accounting for some 60% of the world cocoa supply.

This delicious treat has been around for a very long time. I love the joy and great delight of popping a heavenly bit of chocolate into my mouth, of being able to savor every last bit. I am sure that most people feel the same way about relaxing on a warm or cool evening, sitting curled up on their couch, with a box of chocolate and a good book.

Chocolate in this story is a metaphor for the many and multitudinous array of ambiguity stitched within the woven intricacies of our everyday lives.

Moral dilemmas should be a concern to us all as human beings. My feelings about a lot of things in the world is of an absolute of sheer terror and horror. Drug traffickers and Child Slavery perpetrators will always find a way to slip through the hands of authority and still continue their horrible crimes against humanity. Yet, we can't all be militants and famous fighters for justice. What we can do is our small part in the upliftment of those we can be of assistance to, it does not matter whether near or far. Maybe a small action on someone's part can prevent a larger transgression from occurring.

If we stop consuming products because there are others working hard to provide it, then does the world not stop turning.

I am not trying to justify the unfairness of life. The hard cold fact is that if I decided to stop consuming chocolate, I would be taking the little that others have for their survival. Because, however small, it still sustains their lives.

Life in an unwinnable game, an illusion of time. It is a game of sheer survival. No one will ever have a monopoly on any part of it. There are always wins and sacrifices and a desire to always succeed. Some of us will choose to give up. Others will fight tooth and nail to hold on.

If you see something, say something!

The world is not fair, I wish it were. It is what it is, so we soldier on, hoping for and doing the best that we can.

We are the world

We are the children

We are the ones who make a brighter day, so let's start giving

There's a choice we're making

We're saving our own lives

It's true we'll make a better day, just you and me

Michael Jackson!

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