A World We Dare to Imagine

A World We Dare to Imagine

Honestly, when I think about areas that we need to improve in as a society, I get slightly overwhelmed. Immediately, my mind directs to the senseless acts of violence constantly making headlines in the media, our inability to see others as inherently equal, and our lack of care for the environment around us. Obviously, all these issues are bigger than myself, and require a collection of people to make real change, but I will briefly brainstorm ways to jumpstart that change.

All to often our newspapers and news channels are filled with mass shootings and hate crimes that, in my opinion, can be outrightly avoided. I attribute this source of brutality to the outdated American belief that we have the right to bear arms. Personally, I understand that when our country was founded it made sense for people to be allowed to carry weapons for protection. However, that was before the invention of the automatic rifle, when guns took several minutes to reload. Times have changed, and there is no reason a mentally unstable teen should be allowed to purchase a weapon that can take hundreds of innocent lives at once. To fix this problem, I would not repeal the 2nd amendment, but I would regulate the purchase of guns through a strict application processes to ensure that each gun owner is not a threat to society.

Another issue that comes up all to often in our society is the debate on equality.  Although our country has greatly improved in the last two decades, we still have a long way to go. It is mind boggling to me that I can remember a time when homosexuals were legally unable to marry. Today, our debates are more focused around the equality of the transgender community and minimizing the gender wage gap in the workforce. To address these issues, I would fight for all public facilities to be required to have all-gender bathrooms and strictly prohibit discrimination in all aspects. Also, I would require companies to publicly disclose their percentage of men employed, their percentage of women employed, and their wage gap percentage.

Finally, if we don’t start caring about our environment then we are going to deplete it of all of its resources and live in a world full of pollution. To effectively enforce environmental laws, first I would make everyone recognize just how crucial this issue is. Many people refuse to acknowledge climate change at all, or dont care because it won't be their generation’s problem. However, to ensure that our kids will have a clean world to live in, we need to start now. To do this, I would require companies to find sustainable ways to operate their business. This would include reducing their carbon footprint and finding alternative energy sources. The government can implement regulation laws and offer incentives to businesses that go above and beyond.