World We Imagine Part One

 In my opinion, making the world a better place can be done either in small or large steps.


Even if people aren’t able to directly work for social organizations, I still feel like charity or volunteer work can be good enough to make a difference. The onus of changing the world seems to always fall on the younger generation, but I wonder why should the responsibility get put on us. Especially with increasing wealth disparity and rising inflation rates, this amount of pressure on us seems unreasonable. But, that doesn’t mean we shouldn’t make an effort to do better. Instead of focusing on the younger generation, everyone has to step up in order for meaningful change to happen. 


Helping the world can be as simple as reducing food waste or picking up trash you see on the streets. Oftentimes, large programs calling for drastic changes shut more people out than invite people in. Small steps can be more inclusive, even if they aren’t the most effective. I know that there is urgency in global issues, but change is gradual. We can’t expect people to change habits and behaviors overnight.


In one of my other classes this semester, I learned about effective altruism, a social movement geared towards making the most out of people’s contributions to society. One belief system under effective altruism is making as much money as possible and then giving large amounts of that money away to charitable causes. Effective altruists look for “high impact” jobs that fit the strengths of each person. These do not only have to be high-paying jobs, but these “high impact” jobs often translate to having high status and therefore high pay. Because the world is run by bureaucrats, we need to change the system from the inside out, using power to our advantage. I agree with some parts of this philosophy, but I don’t know how applicable it can be to the average person. 


To be honest, I don’t really know how this translates to my career yet. I don’t foresee myself earning a lot right off the bat after graduation, but I feel like I can still use my strengths in my own way. Maybe I need more time for self-reflection before I can make any concrete choices for myself. I’m pretty passionate about fighting the global climate crisis or speaking out against normalized prejudice. I might try to find volunteer work that is involved in those movements in the future. 


Making the steps towards changing the world more accessible should be the biggest priority. I’m not sure how this will be done, but I feel like changing the world should be something that everyone can contribute to, not only the privileged.

Comments

  1. elanfahApril 21, 2022 at 2:34 PM

    Hi Bryan,

    I really enjoyed reading your post. I agree with a lot of the points that you made in your post like how people always put it in the "younger generation" to change the world and how small actions can help make a big impact. In my post, I talked about volunteering for a non-profit organization called Habitat for Humanity. And while volunteering is only a small action, it helps solve a much bigger problem in affordable housing. I believe a good first step for you could be to volunteer for an organization that fights for climate change or prejudice. From doing the group project with you I could obviously tell you are very smart and also could see that you are passionate and have strong opinions about things, and I think you would be of value to any non-profit organization supporting those causes. It's just an idea, but it definitely would make an impact on the world.

    Elan

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  2. eokeeffeApril 22, 2022 at 7:43 PM

    Hello Bryan,

    Thank you for sharing your thoughts on what we need to do to make the world a better place for everyone. I agree that helping the world can be as simple as reducing food waste or picking up trash you see on the streets. With that in mind, I think a very attainable idea that could be a start to making the world a better place could be some kind of service or platform that allows people to make events to get together and clean trash from the streets. This wouldn't necessarily be service with an organization but just a community held event posted on the platform for visibility. This could be somewhere to start since systematic change requires a lot more resources to begin.

    Ethan

    ReplyDelete
  3. UnknownApril 24, 2022 at 9:55 PM

    Hello Bryan,

    Thank you for your insight on how to make the world a better place. Similar to you, I believe that the world can become a better place by starting with the small things. However, this requires a collective effort and many people seem to not care about the environment or notice how the small things actually add up and have an enormous effect on the environment and the world as a whole. I think that if everyone was able to come together and make a collective effort to make the world a better place, it would truly be a better place.

    -Etienne

    ReplyDelete
  4. Francesca LewisApril 25, 2022 at 2:42 PM

    Hi Bryan,

    You are so right about the onus falling on younger people to be the change which can be so frustrating. I’ve heard people from older generations say things like “these are problems for you to solve” which can is a bit angering because they’ve lived through the beginning/height of these trends. It’s so important for each individual to try to help where they can. I really enjoyed your second paragraph. If people feel like change is too impossible, they will give up. I often fall on the side of trying to make big changes, but I do think we need smaller steps to create a broader and lasting impact. I’m also unsure how my idea of a better world fits with my career but your post has so many great potential starting points. Maybe your proposal can focus on individual efforts and highlight the collective impact or something? I love the ideas of effective altruism and democratizing change.

    Also, what was the name of that other class?

    ReplyDelete

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