The world is powered by dreams. It has not just survived, but it has evolved and thrived because human beings have had both the ingenuity and the determination to build and discover something new during every moment. Today, our lives are remarkably more effortless than they were in the past. Information is not only more accessible to everyone, but it is easier to understand and use in a context that is beneficial to each person. Just around 300 years ago, the very idea of science was so uncommon that human beings were killed for possessing or proposing knowledge out of the ordinary. Today, however, even children as young as 5 years old can provide scientific explanations behind the phenomena that affect our world.
With all this taken into consideration, it is not difficult to see that rapid global development has given mankind wings with which to soar through time and create things that our ancestors would not even dare to dream of. Yet, we have also been left with a searing, suffocating question. A question that stifles our young people and extinguishes all traces of passion or zeal in them. What is left for us to discover?
What else do we do? What else can we create? What else can we find? When great people have already done so much, when we have access to the world at our fingertips, when we know what lies in every corner of the planet, what is the point in doing anything at all? After all, it is quite hard to dream and convince yourself to work for this dream when you already seem to be living in one.
Thus, in this manner, our lives are wasted.
We enjoy social development. We revel in the glories of modern medicine and science, so it becomes so much easier for us to forget the times when we did not. An even more unpleasant reality is that because so many of us have access to better lives, we forget the struggles of those who do not.
For instance, women were granted the right to vote in some parts of the world beginning in the 1890s. However, in some countries, it is still impossible for women to vote, either because of the legal system or because of socio-cultural norms.
Around 1.3 billion tonnes of food are wasted each year. However, 25,000 people still die from hunger and related causes every day.
Thousands of people celebrate learning the sex of their babies at gender reveal parties, but in some countries it is strictly illegal to determine the sex of an unborn child because gender-based abortions have become so prevalent.
Our world is beautiful. It grows and changes every single day, but the scale that distributes the benefits of this growth often seems to be tipped to one side. Unfortunately, those who are capable of correcting this imbalance often remain completely oblivious to the issue. As young people, we have the responsibility of studying our society. Because we are born with so many advantages, we are also born with a unique power – the power to make change, and to correct every tipped scale.
The world may seem perfect, and it may feel alright to settle into a routine of enjoying all the good things that it has to offer. It is always important to remind yourself that because you have been lucky enough to be born in this era, you are also the bearer of more responsibilities than those in the past.
