Mariella Gattini

I wrote this piece on January 27, 2026. That was my last and final winter in Texas.

People are realizing that being wealthy doesn’t make of you a better person. This is a break from the traditional American way of evaluating the rich, and although there still is a big number of those for whom money is everything, more and more people are realizing that the pursuit of money for the sake of money is void of any substantial value.

This is not about those who create businesses that contribute to human development, although, even in that case, their founders and head of companies are mostly flawed and trampled by their own ambitions and limitations.

I’m focusing on the eroding figure of the plenipotentiary mogul, melting day after day into an amorphous pile of trash in the eyes and minds of most.

To find the roots of the original paradigm, we have to go back in history. Since the very beginning, first Dutch, then English settlers in Manhattan saw their conquering of the new land as an enterprise, as a transaction between the Old and the New World. First, they paid with trinkets for the new grounds they occupied mercilessly, later brought slaves who did the work for them, for maximum profit, extracting as much raw material as they could that they would later send to the Old World, enriching the few, who built castles and prosperous cities of their own in Europe, always looking at the New World as a mix of savages, only good for doing the dirty work.

These settlers also created this myth of an America where everything was possible, so they could attract European people who could then reproduce in the New World in order to keep it within their race. Once they were here, they used religion to tell the new comers that the more they work for them, the more they would be rewarded by God (certainly not by their masters).

For the longest time, Americans, and by Americans I mean slaves, servants, and workers alike, instilled in their new generations their way to show God how worthy they were of love and prosperity by working hard and submitting to their masters. This was highlighted by religion and churches that brought that propaganda to the masses; their words were in the lines of, “Work hard, shut your mouths, show your other cheek, lower your head before the privileged superior beings in front of you, since they are better than you and are giving you more than you deserve, and because without them, you would be nothing.”

When workers and slaves found a common cause in the mistreatment of them, the classes in command would divide them racially, giving Caucasian workers positions of authority. According to Zimbardo’s studies, we know now that when somebody is given an authority position of that nature, they tend to abuse their power, especially if those in command are constantly telling them that they are superior because of the color of their skin.

Today, this paradigm is so deep in American workers’ minds that they don’t even question it, because it has become part of who they are. The idea of the superior plenipotentiary mogul is still in people’s minds, as a leader, as somebody to imitate, because in that way, they think some of that wealth will trickle down, somehow.

Nevertheless, things are changing, the grounds are shifting, because those with the most money do not need to hide their intentions any longer. They are telling us, day after day, who they really are. Those for whom net worth is far better than self worth. They are saying to us, with no reservations, that we don’t mean a thing to them, because they have everything they possibly want, and there is nothing anybody can do about it.

The result of this undisclosed information, for everyone to see, has caused a shift in paradigm in the U.S. For the first time, this generation of contemporaries around me has realized that they don’t mind the few with the most money, they don’t care about them, because they have discovered the value in themselves and do not need to imitate or follow those in a higher economic position to choose who they want to be in life. And they are doing it every day, at work, at home, in college, at school, at the grocery store, at the protests, with the outpouring of their love for the most vulnerable.

There is no need for violence, or disparagement, only the firm conviction and acknowledgment of each other’s value are making people walk in the same direction into this unknown territory of new opportunities awaiting us. Because after all, TV does not make or break an entire country. The incisive news cycles are never able to capture what really is going on in people’s minds, simply because our lives are not reality shows that can be manipulated and chopped down in little pieces of information.

Courage is needed at all times, especially when it comes to connect with those around us, courage is crucial in the expression of our innermost convictions that takes us to a higher level of understanding as human kind.

Courage is what I muster every time I write these words to you, knowing too well that among you there are bad-intentioned individuals with nefarious agendas ready to trivialize anything that makes them feel uncomfortable. And others who are so caught up in their own problems and interests that are unable to get the benefit of this connection. Courage is necessary to open our hearts to strangers who perhaps do not deserve it. And yet, here we are, you and I, looking at my beating heart in my hands, in the hopes that the majority of you looking into my words are decent human beings aware of your inner strength. I will never give up on you, ever.

If courage disappears from our lives, because it’s scary out there and it’s way more comfortable to avoid life, we will end up being nothing at all, like the walking dead.

I don’t speak or write in English to connect with Anglo-Saxons or Caucasians only. I use this wonderful language, to the best of my knowledge, to connect with the entire world. I don’t care if you don’t remember my name, I want you to remember your own human nature and the way you can contribute to our mutual understanding and advancement, creating along the way a safe environment for everyone in this country and around the world.

Meanwhile, I’m witnessing the ice melting by the shear force of the outpouring of your love, a love that envelops me and inspires me to keep going on the same path of truly superior people, those who have the stamina and the good will in their hearts. True human relations are not transactional. True human relations are there to strengthen our links and embrace our humanity for the sake of our survival in a world where there is room for everyone to thrive. I’m not alone in this, I know I’m not alone, I see you and I love you.

Happy New Year!