Reading, Knowledge, & Changing the World

These days, I’m into finding and reading as much classic (and modern) literature that I can. When I was younger, I couldn’t care less about reading books, and would rather have had fun with my friends and playing video games any day of the week. However, life has proven complicated - we often don’t realize how much potential we have to change the world until we see horrors that we want to change. I’m beginning to understand that the themes and issues wrestled in many classics are just as relevant as they are today.

Fashion changes, but morals, society, and human nature are consistent – they just take a different form at different times. Books such as 1984 by George Orwell, despite having been written long ago, have deep implications that are totally relevant in 2017 and will be for some time to come.

In a world of news, politics, viral videos, and news outlets, it’s hard to know what to believe. Most people read or listen to whatever confirms their biases. We need to think for ourselves, but it’s hard to understand what’s really going on with so much confusion around. However, it’s hard to sit in the middle of chaos and ignore an unnerved conscience.

When we read books, we come to a deeper understanding of truths and find a perspective that we may not have been capable of seeing through our own eyes. Men and women have written countless experiences so that we may understand something from a different perspective. Educating ourselves to be morally upstanding people should be a priority.

Most people don’t want to understand new things; they just want to be right. Society is more tense than ever these days. Morals are questionable, rights are compromised, people are angry. It’s not just in the United States, but all over the world. We need to stand for what’s right and make a priority to personally live it. We cannot respect ourselves and stand strong if we don’t live out our beliefs.

If good men and women do nothing, then wrongdoing will run rampant. It’s sad to see the world so continually twisted, and it can be hard to keep hope in fighting a good fight, but I believe that we have a duty to continue doing that right things – even when it seems dire and easier to give up.

Society needs us now than ever to do something. Apathy and cynicism are for copouts. Think about your unique talents and what you can do. We don’t need to do everything, but each, his or her own small part, in addition to the whole, and work towards a better world.

Enjoy the reading? Please comment or check out: Value Your Time: Weeding Out Negative People.