May 1st, 2001. When will it end? In today's world, the rich get richer and the poor get poorer. When you lay yourself down to rest tonight, spare a moment to give the rest of the world a thought - 800 million people will go to bed hungry tonight (that is, if they even have a bed).

And today alone, at least 50,000 children will die of starvation - that's twelve million people every year dead because of the growing inequality of wealth.

Ten percent of children in under-developed countries will die before their fifth birthday. And more than a billion people now live on the equivalent of less than one dollar a day.

And in the face of all this, the 300 richest men in the world earn more than what half of the world's population do.

Does this not seem unfair to you? How can anyone in their right mind even begin to think that this is just?

If you think that this has nothing to do with you, think again. It may be cliched, but if you are not part of the solution, then you are part of the problem. If you really believe that nothing is wrong with the world today, then you are ignoring more than three quarters of the world's population.

Most of us are content to sit back and allow our planet to die right in front of our very eyes - most of us do nothing about anything. We all claim to want a 'better future' for our children, but so rarely do we ever do anything about it.

It is too easy to refuse to see what's happening in the real world, it is too easy to turn a blind eye whenever it suits you. Humankind is surely dying, and by your inaction, you leave your children no future at all.

In The grapes of wrath, John Steinbeck wrote, "If you who own the things people must have could understand this, you might preserve yourself. If you could separate causes from results, if you could know that Paine, Marx, Jefferson, Lenin were results, not causes, you might survive.

But that you cannot know. For the quality of owning freezes you forever into 'I' and cuts you off forever from the 'we.'"

Steinbeck directs this passage at capitalists, the men and women who rape the land in pursuit of the dollar, the organisations that are content to grow fat while the majority continue to suffer. They are the people who have stolen all their property from those who have worked to produce it.

They are the faceless corporations that have enslaved the majority in the shackles of capital. They are the McDonald's of the world that promote unchecked globalisation, the Shells of the world that continue to pollute the environment, the Nestles that continue to put profit before human life, the Nikes that are content to abuse the rights of children in sweatshops.

Don't believe me? Let me give you an example. The Gap continues to refuse to pay workers a living wage, and continues to employ children to work under inhumane conditions in many developing nations.

The Fisher family of companies (founders of Gap Incorporated, which includes The Gap and Banana Republic) is reported to be worth US$11 billion and The Gap CEO, Millard Drexler, makes over US$24,000 per hour.

Even so, they refused to pay a decent wage to their workers (many of whom work for less than US$1 a day), they refuse to pay for conservation and restoration plans for the forests they have destroyed and they are rapidly killing nature to make that ever-important dollar. But it's not just The Gap - almost every major capitalist organisation has sold you out.

Not enough? Consider this - 400 million people live under military dictatorships propped up by multi-national organisations that earn huge profits from the cheap labour these regimes provide. Still not convinced?

World military spending is more than US$700 billion per year.

If only we cared as much for human life as we did about killing each other.

The so-called 'developed' world spends about US$50 billion a year on pet food and perfumes - that's enough money to provide education, food, health care, water and sanitation for all those now deprived of these basic amenities - with US$10 billion to spare.

And Bill Gates alone could foot the cost for basic education, health care and safe water supply for the four billion people who lack basic sanitation, and he would still be a billionaire 10 times over afterwards.

Wake up! Every step taken to ensure better working conditions, better wages, a shorter working week, rights for children and women, equality for ethnic minorities - all have been opposed by the forces of capitalism.

During every strike and demonstration, the people in power turn out as usual, to represent their greedy masters and their property, to protect the wealth the power-elite have acquired.

The media spout garbage about everyone's favourite singer and where the latest Starbucks shop is, and the real issues are forgotten.

Open up your newspaper and you won't find debates about these issues. Turn on the TV and you're bombarded with irrelevancies about what the latest fashions are and about which teen sensation is the sexiest.

Every bit of propaganda we hear tells us that capitalism works, that we live in a democracy where the rights of every individual are guaranteed.

Think about it for a minute. We do not live in a democracy; we live in a plutocracy - we live in a society where wealth is directed upward, into the hands of capitalist fat-cats, who in turn control what we hear, where we go and what we do.

There is so much to buy, so much to spend on, that we hardly ever think anymore. For many, to change the system is unthinkable. There's not much point asking whether you like it or not, because you can't change it.

There is now such a great emphasis on buying and earning and consuming, to have the fastest car, the biggest house and the richest job. During the next elections, we will elect politicians who claim to offer us the best deals and the greatest benefits. But this system of capitalism helps so few and slowly kills the majority.

Whatever happened to our sense of morality? When did we stop questioning all that's wrong with the world? Where did the values we once hold dear disappear to?

Capitalism only works for the entrenched few - it doesn't help the poor and neither is it in the best interests of the majority.

The revolution has already begun. It is a potent revolution to correct what is wrong with the world. I am part of that revolution. It matters little to me whether you think all of the above is irrelevant or silly. The revolution has begun, and I am doing what I can. I am trying to change the injustices. Isn't that what matters? Peace, love and respect. Life above profit, capital and wealth. Life above everything else.

What can you do? For a start, if you believe in any of what you've just read, then help distribute this to as many people as you can think of. And join the revolution to end capitalism. Search for your own answers and stop blindly following whatever the people in power tell you to believe.

If you truly want to create a better future for your children, then the fight must begin now. Stand up for what you believe and free your children before they become prisoners of your past.

The Indian writer Arundhati Roy put it best: "Perhaps what the 21st century has in store for us is the dismantling of the Big. Big bombs, big dams, big heroes, big mistakes. Perhaps it will be the Century of the Small."

Do not underestimate the power of the individual - you can make a difference.