Tag Mag Artikel

Unaware

The present world is moving fast and the people in it move even faster. New possibilities like the Internet and mobile phones give us the opportunity to achieve the most incredible things instantaneously. And then to realize that only fifty years ago the car was the most incredible thing ever built. Today it is just as common as anything else.

Yes, the world is moving fast and to keep up, we have to be even faster. In the old days we could manage by building a tent in a month. Well, the very old days when time was not an issue. It was the one thing we had a lot of.

Nowadays, however, we have to do much more to even keep a job. Not only do you have to take your own life in consideration or the lives of the people you live with, but you also have to be aware of what happens in the world around you. You have to be aware of what the newest developments are in almost every section of every interest anyone can ever have.

To keep up you try to just worry about the must urgent things. Like what you're having for breakfast, or if you might go to those friends you haven't seen in a long time. And the most pressing matter of course is if you're still going to that party next Saturday. Simple things for a simple mind – which is a good thing. You can't be tired if you want to keep up with the world we're living in.

Of course, development is great. But along with it came a great deal of problems. The solutions of the past have become the problems of present. Natural resources are running out, burning fossil fuels is causing major pollution, and mass production creates mass consumption. The poles are melting, and the rising sea levels are threatening to drown us. The sky is polluted by light and air. In some countries people die of too little food, in others they die of too much food.

Meanwhile, you're still wondering about that party next Saturday. We don't even worry about the ozone layer or natural resources. We don't even think about the endless universe surrounding us, or that we're just on a little planet in orbit around a giant ball of fire and that there might be other life forms that live far far away on some remote planet.

Don't get me wrong. I'm not being judgemental. I probably do the same. I think it's good that people live their life this way. Imagine being aware of everything all the time. You wouldn't get anything done. You'd be too busy thinking about the end of the world as we know it. You wouldn't leave your home because you'd be too worried about crashing airplanes. And you wouldn't eat anything anymore because you'd be too aware of all the places it has been and all the people who have touched it before you. In short, you wouldn't get anything done.

But still we're expected to be aware. We are being bombarded with information, trying to make us realize how crucial our environment is. And though they have many forms, like a blockbuster movie or just a simple energy saving light bulb in the mail, they all have the same message. Be aware! In our current world, however, that awareness is a luxury most of us can't afford. So there is the problem. Do you decide to trade your life for something more conscious, wear home-made knitted socks and research the earth’s crust for the long lost ways of the ancient Indian. Or do you decide to be a pig headed anti-social person who pollutes the world unknowingly by living the life we have all grown so accustomed to. I think the answer is clear. Although I really like home-made knitted socks, I can't say goodbye to the life I used to have.

Well, then what? Although we've grown accustomed to the life we used to lead, we all agree that something has to change. We think things aren't going too well. More specifically, I think things aren't going too well. I think things have to change, but does that matter? Does anyone still care? Anyone who is living the current life with the luxury of unawareness? And anyone who doesn't want to lose that luxury any day soon? Can my opinion change anything? Can I say things that haven't been said before? Can I see things that all the professors and scientists, who know much more, haven't seen before? Would someone even care if I said that I didn't care? That it's the biggest nonsense I have ever heard and that we're all being fooled? And that we've been fooled for so long, we have become fools ourselves? Would it even matter? Wouldn't I just be saying things that have been said thousands of times before?

In fact, it has already been decided. The world is going to end. It's terrible and you can help by changing your light bulb. Do you still believe that? Do you think that if you use a different kind of bulb, the poles will freeze over again? Do you think that if you separate the plastic waste from the rest of your garbage, the gap in the ozone layer will spontaneously close up again? Well, I seriously doubt that.

If you really want to change something you have to start considering those home-made knitted socks again. But not everyone is capable of doing such research, and not everyone is capable of knitting. So? What is left for us to do? Just sit back and wait for the grown-ups to solve all the problems? Or mess them up of course. Are we being forced to do nothing? We should be aware, but what does our awareness actually contribute? We should be aware but what can we actually do? We have to keep up with the current world, and have a goal in life, but we also have to throw away all those goals and be aware of all the problems we face.

In the end, I think there is very little we can do. Apart from changing a light bulb now and then and separating your garbage of course. I think the main goal is just to try to keep up with life. If there is nothing we can do to help, there is no reason for us to worry about it. So just forget about those melting poles and polluted skies and try to figure out if you're still going to that party next Saturday. What else can you do?