I think we’ve all as Papua New Guineans been programmed to expect so little of ourselves and those who have power in our nation.

We’ve been programmed to demonize things that gave us strength, governed us, and held us together for so long. And we give so much attention to the smoke screens that are orchestrated unfortunately by those who know a little better than the rest.

I see us as a nation very rarely fighting for the things that matter, the things that actually have and give meaning to our lives now and in the future. But we get so caught up in the unnecessary battles that contribute nothing to the war of driving this nation forward.

Those who are in the know are greatly outnumbered, those who know what to fight for have reasons to remain silent, and the loudest drums are from those who know very little of the war we wage as a nation.

I’ve never lived overseas, but in my conversations with those who do, you notice there is a huge disconnect between PNG and the rest of the world. In spending time trying to understand why I’ve realized; it serves whole nations if we remain the way we are, fighting each other over NOTHING! While they take all they want from us in the chaos.

Growing up I spent a lot of time also in acceptance of the way things were, I grew up in acceptance that we were the problem, and yes we are, but not in the ways we’ve been led to believe.

It has been by design, to keep a country of such great economic wealth chained down for those who seek to abuse Papua New Guinea. I understand very little about geopolitics so I will not attempt a walk that line.

But those who know a little more than me can confirm that nothing that’s happened here in PNG has happened without cause or purpose.

Unfortunately, most of the 110 in the hausmahn now don’t represent us. No, they represent their own personal interests. No, this is not speculation, this is a fact. Most of these members of parliament have been in parliament for longer than some of us have even been alive and yet in the grand scale of things very little has changed in our nation as a whole. Examples of these can be found in the recent events in our capital city.

And this is the problem with our nation; people are only concerned about their short-term personal gain. This is reflected in government contacts that seem to benefit the companies and organizations coming here to extract and take from us, all the way down to the poor recruitment processes of our disciplinary forces and a judiciary that can’t prosecute against drugs like methamphetamine.

So this is my appeal to those in high places or those on their way up. Although it may seem like just a blog post or social media post, it is a cry to those who need to hear and read this nonetheless.

You have control of which direction this country goes. Very few are even concerned with the direction in which PNG is heading, but you have the power to influence its course as an individual and in turn a collective body of rebellious Papua New Guineans.

Rebel against the current malpractice and misconduct! Disengage in conversations and activities that operate in the grey, that only have short-term benefits for a few, whilst disadvantaging millions.

Do better for yourself first, hold yourself to a higher standard than you ever have. Yes, you will make enemies, yes you will be misunderstood and ridiculed for not just going with the flow, you will be labelled by many. But this is the price for the nation we aim to become. And no, no one else is going to step up while you fall back into the shadows and out of the line of fire.

No! You are not alone! No, you are not insignificant! No, this country isn’t all the way lost, not yet at least. It will be lost when we as those in the know give up.

And I’ve not known us Papua New Guineans to be those who weren’t resilient.

Make a stand today, we have too many bureaucrats and social justice warriors, we need real warriors. Warriors who will rebel against the country’s current status quo and lead PNG into the future it deserves.

It’s going to take ALL OF US!