Acharya Prashant addresses the question of why everyone nowadays considers themselves exploited or a victim. He begins by stating that it seems as if everyone has adopted an identity of being oppressed, downtrodden, and victimized. If you listen to them, they always have a valid reason for their weakness and helplessness. People narrate stories of atrocities committed against them, their community, or their ancestors. Some claim they were exploited based on their caste, women say they have been exploited for years based on their gender, and others talk about exploitation based on color or race. The questioner is confused: if everyone is exploited, then who is the exploiter? If everyone is in pain, who is inflicting the pain? Acharya Prashant explains that there is no doubt that neither history nor nature operates on the principle of justice. In both, the game of power prevails, and to a large extent, it is a matter of 'might is right'. In nature, there is still an internal, natural balance. For instance, the killer (lion) and the one being killed (deer) always remain in a certain proportion. It never happens that the lions wipe out the entire species of deer. However, in human history, the powerful have their way, and a lot of injustice and exploitation has occurred, there is no doubt about that. But it is very important to understand that what is happening with man is not an atrocity committed by a particular class, group, or party. It is crucial to understand this. Man goes through pain, and every human being endures all kinds of suffering. We want to somehow understand who is causing this pain. In such a situation, it becomes very easy to believe that someone else is responsible for our troubles. Considering oneself exploited and another as the exploiter greatly pleases the ego. Because when you consider yourself exploited, you get the right in your own eyes to do all those things that some exploiter has done to you. You say, 'Wrong has been done to me, I am exploited, so now I will also do everything that the exploiter did. I will retaliate.' You have given yourself the right to violence, and the ego enjoys violence, retaliation, and all these things. That is why you will find that there is not a single person in the world, regardless of their language, religion, sect, gender, age, or country, who would say that no atrocities have been committed against them in their life. Everyone will say that life and the world have done them some injustice. This is a very false notion. It is false on a personal level, and as for the forces that want to gain power by taking advantage of this, what can be said about them? Their job is to find the slightest crack and exploit it for their own benefit. This is the game that is being played.
