From subjects to objects, we allow the betrayal of human dignity every day.

A group of individuals has been transformed into objects, allowing the betrayal of human dignity to occur daily. This transformation, described as a shift from subjects to objects within history, echoes the words of philosopher Jean-Paul Sartre, who wrote in his preface to Frantz Fanon’s The Wretched of the Earth that people have become mere objects. Published in 1961, just days before Fanon's death, the book reflects the struggles of those under colonial rule, particularly in Algeria, which was still under French domination. Fanon understood the deep betrayals inherent in colonization, where the oppressed could become potential oppressors themselves. His insights remain relevant today as similar patterns continue to unfold. The author, who spent three decades living intermittently in the southern hemisphere, migrating, serving as a missionary, and acting as an anthropologist, reflects on the changes he has witnessed. He describes himself as a privileged observer of both invented and real borders, returning home after being granted clemency and wounded by the pain of life he has seen flow from the Atlantic to the savannas of the Sahel, through the forests of the coast. His experience underscores a broader narrative of displacement and dehumanization. Sartre’s observation captures the essence of this transformation: from active participants in historical events and political choices to passive entities reduced to objects. These objects are treated as commodities, consumers, soldiers, numbers, or even mere variables in economic systems. The author suggests that society has accepted this transformation willingly, allowing reality itself to align with dominant narratives. People are divided into desirable, undesirable, and superfluous categories, with the latter often erased entirely from the historical record that globalization has failed to fully realize. This process of betrayal does not happen by chance. It emerges from small, everyday decisions, compromises, cowardice, courage, consistency, or distraction, that collectively lead to a dramatic shift. From individuals to objects, from people to masks, from protagonists to supporting roles, from citizens to subjects, this transformation originates from a profound denial of human dignity and decency. The author argues that this denial is the root of all betrayals committed thus far. Externalizing borders, deporting humans as though they were parcels, and ignoring the saying “out of sight, out of mind” exemplifies how this betrayal manifests. The author calls attention to the complicity of third countries, such as Albania, Rwanda, Uganda, and Ghana, which could become new spaces for the “undesirable,” sold off for money, commerce, and geopolitical interests. These nations, too, are victims of their own complicity, selling their own people for financial gain. This pattern continues unchecked, yet change remains possible. In a 1988 film titled They Live, directed by John Carpenter, the protagonist discovers a pair of sunglasses that reveal a hidden world where advertisements command obedience, consumption, and conformity. Upon wearing them, he realizes the deception in which he lives. The author suggests that a similar awakening is needed today, a search for clarity amid the confusion of modern existence.