I fully agree with the Dalai Lama when he says “I truly believe that individuals can make a difference in society. Since periods of change such as the present one come so rarely in human history, it is up to each of us to make the best use of our time to help create a happier world.” This effectively sums up the global concerns we have today in society: loss of culture, stratification, poverty, racism, and more.
It is on an individual level that each of us can choose to make a difference, creating a large impact. Poverty strikes more than 30 million Americans each year (and who knows exactly how many more in other countries, especially the third world) and most of the rest of the collective 280 million Americans turn a blind eye. Yet it is estimated that $150 billion per year is necessary to eliminate world hunger and poverty; yes, world. If just the United States gave $5 per person per year, we would make that goal. That is it! Imagine if other industrialized nations chipped in such as Canada, England, or France – we are talking in the cents per year to eliminate starvation, death, and diseases – but we don’t do it because we are too focused on ourselves.
Racism has had strong effects on the entire world, and while the days of American Civil War are behind us, the tensions between those who are different from each other still remain. Individually, we have the power to overcome and ignore prejudice by simply realizing that it’s not true. Yet we chose not to. We are too focused on stereotypical ideology rather than taking the time to get to know someone outside of our comfort zone.
Cultural preservation can also be brought into play with renewed individuality. There has been an emerging trend in society towards media bias as well as a kind of pigeon-holing of expressions of self. We see people who don’t act like everyone else, dress like everyone else, or talk like everyone else and we instantly assume the worst because they’re different. Yet those people are the ones who go on to create and impact society is the largest ways. They are your Gates’, your Zuckerburgs’, your Bonos’, and your Obamas’.
To make a long story become short: if we all think for ourselves and act for others, the world will be a much better place. We can hinder some of the emerging negative consequences of the society that we live in, rather than turning the clock back on racism, poverty, and the gap between the rich and the poor. We can do something – all of us together – but it starts with you, and it starts with me in the way we think and process the world around us. As a parting thought, I urge you to remember that being selfish never made the streets safer; nor did being a member of the gang.
