Global Goals for Tomorrowland.

I do not understand why or how so many people are completely buried in negativity. I do not understand why so many people in this world are so focused on working towards a better future for themselves yet they don’t see that their futures are intertwined with that of others. I do not understand how those people are unable to grasp the simplest of ideas that doing what’s best for you also means doing what’s best for everyone else.

So many people allow themselves to drown in excuses. We tell ourselves that things cannot be better. We say that it’s highly improbable or that it’s downright impossible for any situation to improve because of this political reason or that lack of resource or it takes too much time here or too much money there. We cling to these excuses and we repeat them to ourselves and each other so often, it’s as if we’re proud of it.

(I just watched Tomorrowland and Hugh Laurie’s character’s monologue near then end about humans gobbling up the idea of an apocalypse really got to me. Seriously, go watch the movie and listen carefully to the well written script and beautifully laid out descriptions about the modern human condition)

I am indescribably frustrated at the collective human race for being utterly toothless when it comes to making the world a better place. Sure, we have our Mahatma Ghandi’s and Bill Gates’s and Nelson Mandala’s and Mother Theresa’s who put the best interest of the collective human race first on their list of priorities and they never backed down in their efforts to leave this world in a better state than when they found it.

But I’m not talking about our lack of Ghandi’s or Mother Theresa’s. I’m talking about the getting the regular folks to be just a little more compassionate and proactive. I’m talking about getting more individuals invested in the future. If every person on the planet was just a fraction more compassionate, if we were all just a little more in tuned to the atrocities that are occurring in this world, if we all just did that one little thing better in our lives, if we commit our time and effort to just one issue we feel could improve the world for everyone, then we can change the world.

The power to create a nicer, healthier environment for ourselves is in our hands. And as I said before, our fates are intertwined. So when we do something to improve our lives, other people’s lives improve as well and vice versa.

If we’d all just stop making excuses and start taking action, things will change. We have to stop sitting on our butts and waiting for someone else to do the thing. We have to stop having conversations about why things won’t change and start talking about how we can change them. And then do you know what we need? We need to pick a thing and do it. Commit to it. If every person on the planet, or even just half the people on the planet, decided to start recycling paper and only buy recycled paper, then we’d save a whole bunch of trees, and consequently we’d also save a whole of bunch of flora and fauna as well as reduce our carbon emission. If every existing house and every new house was fitted with solar panels or wind turbines, we’d dramatically reduce pollution and our dependence on fossil fuel. If every government official and every politician acted in the best interest of the people (as they are supposed to), then I’m sure we’d reduce infant mortality rates, crime rates, and poverty. I don’t have numbers for these predictions but I’m confident that it’s true to some degree.

I guess what I’m really trying to say is that I don’t understand how people can be so selfish. I don’t understand how politicians can be so greedy and power crazed that they forget their duties and elected officials. I don’t understand how big business people and very rich people are only interested in protecting their assets as of now but don’t care at all about what the planet and the global society is going to look like 50 years from now. I don’t understand how so many people can be so concerned about the short term gratifications without giving a single thought as to what the long term ramifications of their actions might be.

I do believe that humans are good. I believe that we are all (with the exception of those who have severe chemical imbalances in their brains) capable of compassion and empathy and care. Somewhere along the way, we seem to have lefts those things to the wayside while we adopted self-righteousness, selfishness, and greed. We’ve become so self-involved that we find it much easier to just sit back and absolve ourselves from any responsibility we might have towards each other as fellow humans rather than make the smallest change to our lifestyle for the benefit of humankind.

I want us to find that compassion. I want us to embrace all the positive energy we can, double it through commitment to a just cause and then release that energy via positive actions. I want us, as humans, to collective create the single most powerful ripple effect in the history of the world (if it can be measured) and I want that ripple effect to stem from good deeds; random acts of kindness, a commitment to recycle, a monthly donation to Doctors Without Borders, or just any one thing that is aimed at reducing world suck.

You may not see the effects of your efforts in your lifetime, certainly not if you’re the only one doing it but you have to know and understand that if those good deeds are sustained, then over time those efforts would pay off. Better still if more people committed to all the causes, because then you might be able to watch as the world changes and adapts to its bigger, brighter and better future.

If you want to change the world for the better, take a look at the Global Goals that were set out this year. We have 13 of them to accomplish by 2030. We can make it happen if we all work together. So go on, pick a thing and do it. Then get some people to join you in doing the thing as you change the world. Get your elected officials to commit as well and hold your government accountable. Hold your friends and family and yourself accountable. This is our planet and our society. We only have one of it so we'd better get to work at fixing it.