What About the Weak?
So, yes, we are creating new mind-blowing technology. And yes, we are sending new space crafts to reach unprecedented distances in the void of outer space. And yes, we are accumulating knowledge and power like never before. But humans tend to look at the distant island in the sea and forget the land that they stand on. That is the situation of the world right now.
We create and innovate and change and research and spend money and spend money and spend money… on things that we do not need, on creations and technologies that will never be as important as our fellow humans.
A lot of people would disagree, arguing that progress cannot reach everyone. But I ask you: why do we need 120-million-dollar supersonic planes, when a great number of the population still has no access to decent roads or transportation? Why do we spend astronomical amounts of energy to collide protons and other microscopic particles (1.3 terawatt hours annually at CERN — enough to light over 300,000 homes for a year), when some still do not have electricity to light a light bulb at night?
Why do we spend money on research that might fail, when billions are still uneducated? Why do we still drill the ground to look for oil and gas, slowly killing our own beautiful planet instead of putting all our effort in renewable energy that will not silently murder everyone and everything on our planet? But most importantly, why does it seem like we are focusing on everything but our own blood and flesh, our own brothers and sisters, humans who are, when you look at them, half-humans because they do not have food to eat, or water to drink, or energy to stay warm, or clothes to wear?
Yes, scientific advancement is important, and innovation is necessary. But “Halt!”. Helping our fellow humans should be our one and only end. Those huge amounts of money spent on scientific research, building skyscrapers and walls between countries, and upgrading weapons, are being invested wrongly, in my opinion. Humanity should slow this technological race and look at itself for a bit. We are forgetting those who bear the brunt of all the misery in the world: hunger, poverty, injustice, illiteracy, war… those who, as one of them has put it, “wish to sleep but to not wake up because death is better than this life”. While we are too busy counting our millions and watching football and eating unhealthy food and “advancing”, we forget those who are barely able to survive.
Now I ask you: are we really advancing? As long as there are people being left behind, our advancement will be an evil, wicked process; but you and I and everyone who has been blessed with the privilege of an education can change that. We can change. We are the change. Realistically, we are still far from ending the world’s miseries, but let us also be optimistic because positivity is the fuel of change.
When we read the news and see how the weak are neglected, let us not feel discouraged; let this motivate us to initiate change. We are all future scientists, engineers, doctors, teachers, businessmen, entrepreneurs, social workers, authors… and hopefully, above all, change-makers. Let our work be directed to the weak, the poor, and the forgotten first, and everything else will come later.
So before every venture, there is one question we should always ask ourselves: What about the weak?
— This article I’ve written first appeared in my university’s students’ newspaper the UOB Highlights. —
