Change.

They say America is home of the free. But, what I see before me are corporate zombies, trained to do their bidding. Judgemental ideals that refuse to allow people to live their independent lives. It may not be you, or you, but we are all guilty of some sort of act that has contributed to the cruelty of this world. I am not here to judge you, or shame you in any kind of way. I am just here to explore the idea of change. The type of change that only the people that unite can create. We've been trained to just abide by the big businesses and the big politicians that are corrupt. It's no facade, the facts are there, that not everything is as it seems. Monopolies, unrealeased medicine, and solutions to world conflicts are there. Change is there. We just have to be brave enough to reach for it.

I implore you to find it within yourselves to open your mind and your heart. To understand that I have felt everything you have felt. While I may have a different experience than you, our emotions have been one in the same at some point of our lives. It may not happen simultaneously, but they are shared. We empthaize, sympathize, and care. This is the heart of humanity. And right now the heart is failing as we are failing eachother.

During these anxious times, we've seen schools feed hot lunches to kids everyday for over a month due to this pandemic, but why would they refuse to feed kids at school because they have no money? They could do it all along, they just refused to. Why is college becoming more expensive by the year while education programs are declining? Why we have such high tuition costs, forcing the stressed students to get a part-time job while attending school. Why this is causing the younger generations to become depressed and hopeless. Why mental health has not become a normalized topic to discuss with eachother and why we cannot divulge our troubles to one another without seeming weak to society. We are failing these kids and the education system is failing us.

I implore you to ignore social norms, to ignore the believed perception that women cannot do a man's job. That essential workers do not deserve a better pay, even though they are what holds the economy together. Stockers, garbage men, mailman, any job you've been led to believe is low class, is nothing less than a politician who can say a few words. A teacher who is trusted with education of the new generations young minds is no less than a doctor who is trusted with scissors to save a life. So, why is there a great divide between the two? I am not saying one is better than the other, but that both are equally important.

I implore you to ask yourself why we are drowning our marine life in plastic when we have the technology and ability to either clean up our mess or create a better alternative. Because companies will make it more expensive than the convenient plastic, and you will have no choice but to settle for the latter. However, if change is going to occur we must purchase products efficiently and safely for the environment. For everything is connected by the ecosystem, and if one species diminishes then many more are to go with it.

I implore you to ask yourself why we have such need for racial divide and stereotypes. Why we must convince ourselves and feed our egos illogical reasonings as to why my race, or your race, is better than the other. Because at the end of the day we are people. We breathe, we eat, sleep, and work to live. We are nothing more and nothing less. Why is there a need to bring such supremacy in our lives? To cause destruction, hate, and anything but peace? Because peace is always an option. And I implore you to ask yourself what is wrong with our justice system and why people bury their morality by falling to their knees, basking in power and money earned by corruption. Why we must send innocent men and women to jail while the rich and powerful walk free? Why we must tell women what to do with their bodies. They are an individual. Individuals should have the freedom to choose for themselves, to keep their own future in their hands. It is their choice. Why there are men and women out on the streets, families being ripped from one another, and too many people dying due to our egos and our need for dominance. I implore you to ask why you must live this way and think this way. For we are all equal and share the same hopes and dreams: a free life.

Change starts here. It starts with you. Your heart. It starts with you looking at your neighbor and exclaiming that you respect them. No, you do not have to like them but you must respect one another. The power hungry and the greedy do not know what respect means and that is what differentiates moral and immoral. Respect comes with peace and love. It comes with understanding that your way of life and your perception does not have to be your neighbors way. And understanding that comes with respecting their way of life while not impeding and shoving your beliefs down their throat. What you believe is different than the ideas of the person next to you, and that is okay. For we should always believe in respect and mutual gain. Change begins with you. Change starts when you begin understanding that you do not have to bow down to the higher ups, but unite to make a difference. To change. Many people will be against your ideals, and that is okay. Because change is the mind of humanity. And someday we will be truly free from the chains of corruption, it just all starts with change.