Perspectives Through a Limited Lens

I’ve never been an expert in politics or economics. For most of my life, I avoided those subjects because they felt too big, too abstract, too far from the daily reality of paying rent and keeping hope alive. But as I grew older, I started seeing how these systems quietly shape everything — who gets a chance, who doesn’t, and how time itself becomes currency. These are just my reflections, imperfect and personal, through a limited lens that keeps trying to focus.

My knowledge of politics or economics is limited, and it wasn’t something I cared much about until my 30s. For a long time, I avoided those subjects because I had personal problems to solve first, and the ideas felt overwhelming. I envy people who are confident enough to say they know everything — that their idea of a political or economic system is 100% correct. I wish I had that certainty.

But what am I supposed to do? These subjects should be taught from kindergarten to college; they should be basic knowledge for everyone. Instead, I was taught to go to college, get a job, work, and then retire. I tried to follow that path, and I failed many times. I learned the world is much harder for neurodivergent people like me.

Despite the damage from failing, I never gave up. I went to three different colleges: Business Administration, Medicine, and Computer Science. And guess what? I never finished a single one — not because I didn’t like college or couldn’t handle the classes, but because of time and financial issues. I had to work to pay for rent, food, transportation, and everything else. Studying while working drains all your energy, all your youth. I felt I aged five years in one.

That was one of my hardest lessons. I learned, at least in Brazil or Argentina (where I lived for six years), that getting into college and being successful is a privilege, not a right. You need someone to hold you for a couple of years; otherwise, you’ll fail. And please, don’t bring me the exceptions — that’s not intellectually honest.

Computer Science was my last attempt to get a diploma. I failed again. I was depressed for two weeks or so, but then I had to do something. I told myself: there’s nothing I can do about it, but I still have bills to pay and dreams to chase. After that, I decided to dive into software development on my own and learn English — and I succeeded. That’s when I realised college wasn’t necessary to achieve my main objective: money.

Money. That’s right. Where I live, we operate under a capitalist system. It might sound silly, but it took me time to fully understand that what we really trade for money is our life. Time is money, but time is also your life.

The capitalist system isn’t perfect; it has flaws. I hope that someday we can fix it, not replace it. I like to think of it like software that works, but not for everyone — it has bugs. As a developer, you don’t throw the whole system away; you debug and fix it one issue at a time.

I learned how to play the capitalism game. I’m not the winner I wish I were, but I know the rules — and it’s a hard game, getting harder every year. Sometimes I ask myself: is this still a fair game?

In the last five years, I’ve made a good amount of money as a software developer. I bought land, an apartment, cars, and gave my family some comfort. You might think I’m financially successful. I don’t think so. I still wake up every morning, get ready for work, and pay for the land, the apartment, and everything else. I’m still not the owner of my time. The real winners are those who control their time, not sell it.

The rules are clear, and I can accept them. Still, I’m frustrated that we don’t stop ageing, and the money meant to reward a decent life loses value over time. Which means your time loses value as you play. It’s not fair. And I don’t even know who to blame. The system? The government? Us?

From my ignorance, I can’t accept that this is normal. I try to understand through the news, papers, and everything I can read. What I see is that we have all this knowledge, yet the people in charge act against it. It’s like the government of the ZYX is doing something that will make people’s lives hell. People say, “We’ve seen that before; it never worked.” Everyone knows — it’s almost a joke.

Maybe it’s naive, but I still believe we’ll eventually fix the messes in our society. Meanwhile, all we can do is keep learning, adapting, protecting the people we love, and respecting each other’s lives.