The world is doomed.

       

       Lust, gluttony, greed, laziness, wrath, envy, and pride. All of which are religiously known as the seven deadly sins. Each sin is ingrained in humanity, incapable of being untaught or overcome. We live in a world that is ruled by white supremacy, where often times, a minority of elites outrank the majority. This is a world where a white twenty something year old male can avoid going to jail for the brutal rape and assault of an innocent female because he just so happens to be a valued member of his school’s swim team. A valued member of society? Most definitely not. The mentalities and values we uphold all contribute to our decisions. And so far, those decisions have been outstanding to the point that we would rather go to war over the most trivial things rather than swallowing our pride and resolving our issues without bloodshed and hostility. Or the fact that many of us seem to believe global warming is something that was concocted out of a Chinese factory. As if it hasn’t been scientifically proven that our surroundings are drastically changing for the worse. Life is too short to take it for granted. With the way I see the world now, a world constantly succumbing to the natural impulses of greed and envy, a world where our youth would much rather binge watch Dance Moms and grind to nonsense trap music, or talk about the relationship status of Blac Chyna and Rob Kardashian than the inhumane violence taking place in Aleppo… Our future generations aren’t looking too bright; the world is in fact, doomed.

      It’s difficult to be optimistic when we continuously disappoint ourselves and continue to feed societal stigmas. For instance, a case that hits home: Delrawn Small. Small was a 37 year old father of three when he was shot dead in Brooklyn. Brooklyn, New York is my home and haven. It’s heartbreaking to see a fellow Brooklynite family suffer. My father is an honest man with three kids as well. Do I need to worry about whether or not he’ll come home in one piece? I’m sure the thought never crossed the mind of Small’s children. Delrawn Small is not the first case of police brutality and certainly won’t be the last. Once the people lose trust in those who are supposed to see the good and protect the good, it’s all downhill from there. They’re not isolated incidents. Police brutality, whether on the basis of racism, lack of training, or impulsive actions, has been occurring all over the country. Why must an innocent black man be killed for not using his turn signal when a white man can shoot up a movie theater, murdering several innocent lives, and be pardoned? It’s a sad day in history when the majority of America thinks “blue lives matter” holds precedent over “black lives matter” and elects a man who thinks the same thing to be the leader of the free world.

Despite popular opinion, America is not the center of the universe. There is a much larger world out there, going through much more severe issues. Many of those problems are happening because Western powers, namely America, can’t keep their noses out of other nation’s conflicts. Why fix our own problems when we can screw up other countries? Let’s address the fact that we went to war in Iraq, Iran, Afghanistan, Syria, and Pakistan. The war was in those places, not with. There’s a difference. We thought we were the heros chasing down the terrorist monsters that are so adamant on destroying Western culture. Meanwhile, as we sat on our high horse, we went into these countries and completely turned their society and lifestyle upside down. Every country we seemed to touch was either taken over by jihadi terrorist groups or the citizens finally realized they were being mistreated and turned against their government, expecting help from the U.S. that never came. That brings us to the issue of refugees. The fact that any nation would turn away refugees fleeing their war torn countries is appalling, let alone a nation that puts itself on a pedestal for its values of freedom and diversity.

     There are occasions where the minority speaks out against the woes of the world. Petitions and protests are constantly occurring to bring awareness to the absurdity of a slew of issues we are challenged with. Marches across Broadway Avenue or gatherings in Union Square. All those people took time out of their day to stand up for what they believe in. Unfortunately, those people represent a handful of the population. You can yell, write, chant, march, all you want. Besides, all they do is attract large crowds and you know what happens to large crowds in this day of age? The newest form of terrorism! Just drive an enormous truck through a throng of people! Who needs guns anymore! That’s our new reality. The bottomline is that the people who are actually capable of making change are racist, every-known-phobic, white men who would much rather hold onto their extravagant life of luxury with white knuckles than actually think of the common good of the people they represent, regardless of race, ethnicity, sexual orientation, or gender.

     The fact that we claim to be modernizing and evolving our progressive ideals is a lie that we tell ourselves to make us feel better and feed our denial. Bigotry and xenophobia have held us back, continue to hold us back, and will always hold us back. The issues that need to be discussed aren’t actually being discussed because of fear of making the conversation uncomfortable. But that’s exactly what we need! Move past uncomfortable, acknowledge how screwed up society is and how the world is struggling, and then change it! Change doesn’t come without opposition, but it’s always worth it. Ignorance is not bliss. Ignorance is complacency. And our complacent attitudes aren’t going to do anything for us except come back to bite us where the sun don’t shine.