The World We Imagine Part 1

"Today we are redefining the geography of community and accepting shared accountability for common human values. We have the chance to extend the notion that all men are created equal to every human being on the planet. This will require global structures and products we are only beginning to imagine.... Each of us in his or her own way can contribute something by thinking -- and acting -- like a true global citizen. We have only one world for all of us on earth, and the future really is ours to create, in a world we dare to imagine together."

As a student of International Relations, I don't like to make predictions. As I've been taught time and time again in my classes and by my professors, predictions about the future will almost always turn out false, so the best use of one's time is to rely on the data the past provides and try not to make the mistakes we as humans have made in the past. Yet, I often find myself dreaming about how the world I live in now came to be, and what the future could look like. With how interconnected the world is now, it is impossible to look at it as anything less than a single interconnected unit, which is why this quote resonates with me so much.

It is a well known fact that our world is dying, and we as humans are the disease that is killing it. I know it sounds harsh, but its the truth, we have spent the last century developing ourselves and making the world more liveable for us, while ignoring that we aren't the only one's living in this world. As a society, we approach a turning point, one where the needs of those of us in the developed world can no longer come first. We are reaching a point where we need to put the world first and our needs second. And that's ok, because the World has already given us so much. The smell of the grass on a rainy day, the way the sun beats down on you at the beach, the way the wind blows through your hair, these are all reminders of the love this planet has given us, despite how harshly we have abused it.

War, rising global temperature, hunger, disease, old enemies that we thought we had defeated that seemed to have reared their ugly faces again. Our world is on the edge of a paradigm shift, and not a good one, and it is our responsibility to try and heal it once again. I know as individual's its often hard to find ways to make an impact, given how those with true power often can't be bothered. But now is hardly a time to assign blame, as a species we may just be in for the fight of our lives. Our actions could singlehandedly save the world. But then again, what do I know, I'm just a student of International Relations, I don't like to make predictions.