Playing it safe

Playing it safe might take you far, but it gets us nowhere. 

How many times throughout your life were you told to play it safe? Who were the carriers of this message, and how do these three words show up in the ways you choose action or inaction? Playing it safe has a way of making us believe we are safe when, in truth, we are not.

Under capitalism, the only ones who know safety are those of the owning class. There is no safety in exploitation, social division, corruption, and environmental degradation. There is no safety in hierarchy, resource hoarding, or consumerism. No matter how much YOU play it safe, WE never will be.

Playing it safe has costs that go unseen and seen, both of which are often realized only when it is too late. One can play so safely that they fool themselves into believing they are either one of them or marked safe by them. 

You are neither. 

If you play it safe, you may get access to their sandbox, but you will not be allowed to build a castle. Many find satisfaction in just entering the sandbox, believing all access is good. Furthermore, those who are content with this limited access often cover their tracks to the playground and create a fortress around the sandbox, preventing others from gaining entry.

Playing it safe and power have a thorny relationship because to play it safe, one must embrace individualism. When you embrace individualism, you tend to use power solely for your own benefit. If you use power for your own gain, where does that leave us?

Safety does exist, but not in the ways we have been conditioned to believe. It is achieved by taking risks and making sacrifices. True safety requires us to prioritize one another over profit. It demands that we show reverence for humanity. Safety is attainable, but not through playing it safe; it comes from choosing people above all else.

“An individual has not started living until he can rise above the narrow confines of his individualistic concerns to the broader concerns of all humanity.”

-MLK