How does one human turn another into a slave?
Simple. First, they learn not to see them.
In ancient times, slavery existed. Everyone knew. Philosophers knew. Poets knew. Lawmakers knew. No one asked: “Is this right?” Why? Because to ask is to see. To see is to be disturbed. To be disturbed is to change.
We do not want change.
If a person is stripped of the right to be the author of their own choices and actions, they are no longer a “who” — they become a “what.”
In the modern world, a slave is cheap labor... They bring money.
There is a golden rule: When gold glitters, rules grow dim. Then those who caused the slavery begin to justify themselves. This is the most dangerous stage. “They are just like that.” “It’s their nature.” “Look — lazy, thieves, liars.” Stop. Who made them that way?..
We did not educate them. We did not respect them. We did not see them as human. Then we looked and said — they are not acting “human.” And we declared: “You see? They were born to be slaves.”
We confused cause and effect. We presented the consequence we created as a pre-existing cause.
The same mechanism operated in the concentration camps. They starved the prisoners, kept them filthy, made them live in animal conditions. Then they looked — they were behaving “like animals.” “You see?” they said. “These are not humans after all.”
This blindness is a deliberate blindness. It is the blindness of not wanting to see.
Today, no one chains us. No one drives us ahead into slavery. We go ourselves. We must. We keep trying to improve our quality. Language skills, problem-solving abilities, cultured behavior... For developed slaveholders, we are the most convenient workforce. The reason? We all know the reason well.
We exist in a state where we cannot be without the approval of others.
They do not want to see these truths. We do not want to see them. Because to see is to change.
From the diaries of Abdukarim Mirzayev
Ai Weiwei
Born 1957 in Beijing, China Lives and works in Berlin, Germany