Felipe Tamaki

Speech: The giver

Dear community:
I am here today to share with you something that has been rounding in my mind, something that
doesn`t let me sleep at night. All our life, we have been living in a world that has no color,
emotion and freedom. All our life we were taught the value of sameness above all else, and to
believe that this is the key of happiness. But let ask ourselves: is this really the life we want to
leave? Is this what makes us truly happy?

As you can know, I am the receiver of memories, therefore, I have been given access to
memories of the past, and I have seen a world that is strongly different from what we are living. I
have seen a world where people are free to choose, to love and be loved, and the experience of
richness of life. And I believe, as human beings, is in our rights to claim to live in a humanized
world as well.

It is true that, living in a controlled world with strict rules to follow; with a mild and consistent
weather, with no extreme conditions or weathers; and in the community that is designed to
prevent conflict, pain and suffering. However, life elsewhere is completely different; people can
make their own decisions, instead we were told that our way of life is only one way; elsewhere
humans can feel emotions, in the community we consume pills that make us not to feel them; and
the elders control the information we receive, so we may not have access to a fully understanding
of math, science and how things work.

I am not asking you for blindly following me, I ask you to rethink the way we are living, how we
are being controlled, and overall, how is to live in a world with joy, pain, love, between many
other wonderful things we can experience elsewhere. The first memory the giver shared with me
was one sliding down a snow hill, he described the feeling of cold air in his face and the thrill of
speeding down the hill, so I ask you: Do you seriously want to continue living in this government
controlled and run world?

Furthermore, another shared experience was of a family celebrating Christmas together. They
choose their family, they decide to have children or not, and they taught them the knowledge and
skills for deciding their future themselves. It transmitted me a sense of warmth and joy, as there
Felipe Tamaki

was a sense of being surrounded by loved ones, the first time I heard it, it really moved me as in
the community the government decide our family, our job and almost everything.

There is still a little hope for us to escape elsewhere, as I said before I am not obliging you to
follow me, just rethink the way you are living. We can create a new world, as a community we
might fight against adversities and I am sure if we join with our skills and knowledge we may
overcome them. So, I ask you would you like to join me in this journey?