How to Fix a Broken World

The fact that we live in a broken world is undeniable. Perhaps the biggest problem is the matter of the individual: “What can I alone do to make a change?” There are two paths forward in a broken world. The first is anarchy and rebellion. The second is systematic change. While the first option would certainly be exciting, what this world needs is change. This begs two questions, however: what needs to change, and how do we change it?

Quite simply, nothing can be done alone. The irony of that statement is that everything is done alone. You are an individual, even within a group. Your connection to that group is determined by your participation – often dictated by self-perception – within that group. What role do you play? Are you a passive observer? An active participant? Are you the creator of the group? Do you lead the group? Do you lead people within the group? Follow people? Are you simply looking for a place to belong with no other intentions? The answer doesn’t matter. Nor does the group. You are an individual, equally capable of creating your own group as you are of participating in another. And a “group” can be anything. A literal group that meets periodically, your family, a friend group; anything.

When I was younger, the idea of “Anonymous” was very popular – this secret organization of hackers who sought to change the world. What made Anonymous stand out was the fact that it isn’t a group. It’s an idea. Anyone who adopts that idea becomes Anonymous. People then formed their own groups in accordance with that idea. To me, this is similar to religion. Christianity, for example, is a very large group of people. There is no “Christianity” in the sense of an organization or hierarchy. Instead, there are groups of people following similar doctrine, each with their own unique spins and takes. There is no “right and wrong.” Only ideas. Anyone can take up the mantle.

Where is the next idea? It’s one thing to work towards specific goals such as the acceptance or equality of certain peoples, but it is something else entirely to propose a method of thought. And any who try usually end up running a cult if only as a result of power dynamics. However, the world has an obsession with celebrities and politicians. There are similar obsessions with the likes of social media trends/challenges and influencers. Global ideas are plentiful. But they’re far from intentional.

To express this another way, pictures of scantily clad individuals on the internet garner more recognition and attention than the idea of actually caring about another human being. It’s easier to look at something than it is to think about something. From this comes the answer to my first question, what needs to change to fix this broken world: ideas. Specifically, our attention to ideas. The world is full of good ideas, but few people care. And why should they? It all goes back to being an individual. The thought of loving and caring for others simply because they are human is a very good thought. But what is anyone to do with that? Love and care about who if they are alone? Help and support who if they have no resources? And most importantly, what if they don’t even know what loving and caring about someone actually means – if they’ve never experienced that for themselves?

So, when people are presented with alternatives such as online parasocial relationships, who is to blame for their indulgence? When nobody acts on good initiatives, who is to blame? We can’t blame the individual who doesn’t know any better. Thus the answer to my second question is intertwined with the first: how do we change what needs to be changed? By being willing to act. The future of this world falls on your shoulders, and yours alone. If you are capable of acting on an idea, then the only guaranteeable actions in this world are your actions. We can only hope that others will see the bigger picture. And if not, that’s not our problem. What about those who don’t want to be cared about? That’s not our problem either. We do what we can for who we can, and leave it at that. That is how ideas are spread.

And what about society and our humanity? A stranger on the street is nothing more than a stranger to anyone else. Obviously the importance of emotional bonds – formed with time – must be considered. But if a stranger were to try talking to you, would you welcome them into your life, or dismiss them? There must be boundaries, of course, but fixing a broken world also requires us to fix our humanity. Assuming this stranger is a reasonable person, why not let them in? I imagine that most rational people really would let them in. The problem, therefore, lies with being the stranger. There is stigma behind the very act of wanting to be let in somewhere. It’s the idea of friendship. How are friendships made? They’re usually founded on common ground, then take time to grow.

Does this mean that our humanity is nothing more than shared interests? Shared goals or ideologies? Does friendship mean we must follow the same subjects or have the same hobbies? Obviously relationships of any kind are very complicated, but I learned one important lesson from attending an international school. Many foreign students would come mid-semester, not speaking English. So, I helped a few such students, for example, by partnering with them in my gym class. We became “friends,” they adapted to the changes, found their own groups, and we moved on. We weren’t part of the same friend groups. We didn’t spend time with one another. But we were friends nonetheless. The important part is that they found their groups.

Where does someone begin? Begin a career, a friendship, a life? The world is running out of starting points. If people only had a reason to work towards something, they would care about the world. An active participant in the world has a reason to care. In today’s world, though, starting points are few and far between. These are the ideas I wrote about in You, Man, Emotion, based on my own experiences. All anyone wants is a chance to try and live a life, whatever that means to them. But chances are running out, and so our broken world is headed to destruction unless we take change into our own hands.

What does all this mean? In summary, the world is broken because nobody cares about anyone else. More often than not, that is a result of the broken world – a painful cycle. The matter of survival always comes first, and there are far too many people struggling to merely survive in this world. So people cling onto what little they can, be it celebrities or social media. And these things aren’t inherently bad in nature – the issue is when they become the primary source of “life” for people in an otherwise lifeless world. To fix it, you must be aware of the problems around you and take action. Form what you can. Build what you can. Be who you can. So long as you make an effort, there is yet hope.