Have you ever seen a Victoria Regia Lily? Have you seen its leaves? They can usually be found floating gently on the surface of water. They have a delicate appearance, almost as if a slight wind could upset their balance and crumple them like tissue. To the casual observer, a pond or lake that has been taken over by Lilies and enormous Lily Pads may seem quite peaceful or even beautiful. However, there is a sinister secret hiding behind the Lily Pads!
Flipping over one of these leaves would reveal that its entire underside is populated by prickly thorns. As Lily Pads grow from tiny leaves into large discs, they use their thorns to crush and push away any smaller plants that may be in their way. Additionally, the thorns also serve as a defense mechanism to prevent plants and aquatic animals from damag-ing the leaves. Apart from all of this, an excessive population of Lily Pads can even begin to suffocate other plants and fishes by preventing sunlight and oxygen from entering the water.
Marshall Ganz, a senior lecturer at Stanford once said, “Challenging the status quo takes commitment, courage, imagination and above all, dedication to learning.”
This world should not simply be a place that young people learn to live in. Instead, it should be a planet that we inherit in its most whole sense, including all its beauty and all its responsibilities. This means that rather than just learning to survive in our world, we have the obligation of observing and understand-ing everything that surrounds us.
The example of Lily Pads shows us how easy it is to overlook factors of inequality and injustice simply because they are not deeply noticeable. When we see a pond filled with smooth, delicate leaves, we are quick to admire its beauty and move on. We fail to consider the plight of the other organisms that may have been crushed or suffocated in order for the Lily Pads to thrive. Because we do not stop to consider this, we allow the creation of an environment where only one kind of plant can survive. In the real world, failing to pay attention to factors of inequality will not only harm fishes or plants, it will harm people and take away opportunities of growth from them.
The most dangerous quality of the status quo is how peaceful it can appear to be. As young people, we do not only have the responsibility of lending our voices for the right things, but we also have the responsibility of first learning about the experiences of the people who share the world with us, who may live different lives and fight different struggles from us. After all, how can we disrupt the status quo when we do not fully understand why it is unjust? When we build a habit of studying every situation in as many perspectives as possible, we will acquire the skill needed to create a world that is safe for everyone, and allows everyone their own piece of space so they can grow and find joy.
