The People of Earth

As get older, the more I realize life isn't about money, or status: things which I used to chase in my younger years. As I get older I realize that life is about experiences, and doing things which help those other than yourself. As I get older I realize that what I really want in life is to leave my mark; a scuff that will continue on long after I pass. As I get older I realize more and more how fragile life is, and how easy it can be taken from you and that drives me to want to help people. Why? Because there are people on this world right now who suffer day in and day out. There are people on this world who desire to end their life early because the suffering they feel is worse than death itself. How can we sit here, typing away on our $2,000 dollar MacBooks when the people who made these computers, in some far off country that us as Americans do not care about, live on one tenth that amount per year? As I get older I realize that my luxuries may have been the cause for another human being’s suffering and if I am going to make another human being suffer, I damn well use these luxuries of mine to make a difference. So their life life is not wasted, so to speak. So that they may live on through my work and so that maybe their kids or grandkids can get an education and change the world. So I write. I write because it is the only skill I know how to do. If I could cure cancer, I would. If I could cure AIDS, I would. But I suppose we are all given a mission and a special place here on this world, and I really hope my is to write, because that is what I will do. I urge everyone of you to do the same as well. Find your passion, make sure that passion is benevolent, and follow that passion with every ounce of energy you have in you. Because when we care about only ourselves, we end up with a world that looks kind of like the one we have today. We end up with a world where people fight, where religions fight, where governments fight all at the expense of those who do not want to fight. It’s a shame really, that we live in the 21st century, yet we have yet to stop world hunger when we eat passed our fair share every night. It’s a shame really that there are people who live in glass houses on the cliffs of California when there are people who don't even have a glass of water to drink. It’s a shame really that we say we care, but our benevolence only ever reaches those that are closest to us. It’s a shame really that some have it better than other purely because of the geographic location they were born in, or the gender that they were born in, or the sexual orientation that they were born in, or the color of the skin that they were born in. It’s a shame really that religion, which is supposed to bring humans closer to God, brings those same people further from humanity. Now, is it the Religions’ fault, or is it our fault for allowing those books written so long ago to give us a free pass to judge those who are not part of “our” group? We live in a world with such technological prowess, and yet we use that prowess to enrich a minority and not to help a majority. It’s a shame that socialism doesn't work because of innate greed in humans and that capitalism works, but doesn't help because of that same innate greed in humans. You see, what I am trying to say, with all of these contrasts is that there is no right answer. There is not a right or wrong way to do things and it is only right or wrong based on one’s perspective. But I can almost guarantee that most people on this planet could agree on one thing: Peace. So why have we yet to achieve it? Why have we allowed those small minorities who thrive off of war either monetarily or religiously or for pure enjoyment, why have we allowed them to decide who lives and who dies? We are the people but we are not the people of the United States, we are the people of Earth and the longer we continue to divide each other and the longer we continue to fight and the longer we refuse to hold out our hands for those in need, the longer the majority of our colony here earth stays in suffering. We must do something and as many excuses as we can come up with as to why we are not doing something, there are just as many reasons as to why those excuses are invalid. You know I once read a statistic that the average American spends nine years of their lives watching TV. What if that time was cut even in half? What if every American had an extra four and a half years to help those in need, in whatever way they could? What a better place the world would be. Unfortunately we are fighting against biological tendencies of laziness but in a world where there is 10 restaurants down the street from most people, are those biological tendencies, those codes Mother Nature has ingrained in us to conserve energy, are those tendencies useful anymore? If the answer is a resounding no then get up. Get up and change the world because no matter what you think, you have the ability and the time to make a difference. Please do it. Don’t do it for me, or for you, but do it for those who would do the same thing for you if the roles were reversed. Do it for those who are suffering. Do it for Mother Nature and do it for humanity. We the people. You the people of Earth. Change the world.