Is helping solve
the problems of society everyone's job, or no one's job. What role would you
hope to play,
based on your interests and developing skills, in the solution of one or more
specific
problems?
Society's
Problems and my role in helping it
As the problems
in society arise, it is the duty of every individual to ease the burden by
helping to
solve these
problems. Too often, individuals pass off that responsibility with the hope
that others will
pick up the
slack. The problem is that too many shrug their responsibility leaving an
insurmountable
degree of perils.
It is everyone's
obligation to help solve the problems because everyone has a stake in society.
Not
enough people see
the whole picture when it comes to society's problems. If something hurts the
society, it hurts
the individual. For example, the problem of homelessness is not just the
problem of
those who are
without residence. Their plight effects us all. Homelessness hurts the local
businessman whose
customers are frightened away by the homeless man living on the corner. It
hurts
those who have to
commute to work via public transportation and must deal with the panhandlers.
It
hurts those whose
homes are burglarized by the homeless man looking for money to feed his family.
There is no
isolated problem in society and each problem has a ripple effect that
eventually hurts
everyone. Even if
only for selfish reasons, every individual should help to solve the problems of
society. A
parallel that I can draw to further illustrate my point is the team play of
former NBA star
Earvin
"Magic" Johnson. When asked why he is such a team player, he
responded that he was a
very selfish man.
He wanted to win so much that he was willing to do whatever it took to succeed.
I hope that in my
later life I have every opportunity to help those who need it. I try to help
out as
much as I can
now. Due to my commitments at school, I have little spare time, but I still
attempt to
help. During
Thanksgiving I help out with my school's Thanksgiving Food Drive. I also
volunteer as
a tutor for those
who need help with their academics. On smaller scales, I always donate my loose
change to the
various charity boxes that are strategically placed at the counters of all the
local stores
and I always
recycle my recyclables. At college, I look forward to the opportunity to
further assist in
improving
society.
Beyond college, I
hope to eventually make a real difference in society. I have chosen business
management and/or
marketing as my career of choice, but I would eventually like to throw my hat
into the ring of
politics. My goal is to become a successful businessman and set myself up
comfortably. If I
become well off, which I hope to, I will give back to the society that helped
me
reach that point.
I will do so by donating both my time and money to various charitable services.
I
then hope to run
for local office. My desire to be a politician is for only altruistic reasons.
I want to
change many
things about the way our government is run and the way it handles the problems
of
society. If I run
for office, it will not be to gain financially or to make a name for myself. I
want to
make a
difference, and I feel that through the medium of politics I could.
I feel that the
single most important institution in our nation is the educational system.
Without a
strong educated
population, the United States will never return to its former economic
prosperity
and standing
among the nations of the world. More important than pumping money into defense
and
the military, we
should be focusing our time, money and effort on educating the youth. I feel
that this
starts by
decreasing the class size at the grade school level. Children who are neglected
at home
need the
assurance and support of their teacher. The teacher cannot possibly do that for
thirty-five
students. A young
child's mind is a blank slate and can be influenced very easily. It is very
important
that the child is
instilled with proper values and strong sense of confidence in himself. That is
why the
school has to get
to the child before the local drug dealers can corrupt him. I also feel that
more
money needs to be
spent on the educational growth of the child from kindergarten through college.
Teaching is, in
my estimation, the most important profession in our nation and the attitude
towards
them does not
reflect that statement. Better conditions and higher salaries would attract
more
dedicated and
educated people into the field of education. I hope that one day, I have enough
money that I can
donate large sums to various institutions of higher learning so that children
who
would not have
otherwise had the opportunity to receive an education will be able to. There
are
many other
changes I would like to see instituted. I am for more radical programs such as
the
legalization of
gambling, prostitution and drugs. It sounds like I am suggesting a total moral
defabrication of
our society, but in reality, past the negative perception, such programs would
be
very beneficial.
Legalized gambling, under state control, would allow the state to make huge
profits.
Besides the
capital raised from the casinos, tourism would increase. That would be
beneficial for all
surrounding
businesses. Legalized prostitution would make an already practiced institution
safer,
reducing the
spread of HIV. An educated businessman could run the brothel allowing an honest
individual to
make the profit. It would also lower the instances of physical abuse between
the
prostitute and
the patron. The legalization of drugs would put the dealers out of business.
Young
children would no
longer have the option of selling drugs and would be forced to get an
education.
Without drug
dealers, there are no turf wars and fewer gun related murders. The drugs could
then be
sold in a
pharmacy where upon an honest business man could make the profit. This would
reduce
the sharing of IV
needles and reduce the spread of HIV. By legalizing the drug, the rebel element
is
taken away and it
is my belief there would be fewer abusers. These are just a few programs that I
would like to
push for should I ever be given the chance.
If individuals do
not soon understand the importance of helping out in our society, the problems
will
become too great
for us to handle. I would like to close with a little story my mother used to
tell me
when I was
little: "This is a story about four people named Everybody, Somebody and
Nobody.
There was an
important job to be done and Everybody was asked to do it. Everybody was sure
Somebody would do
it. Anybody could have done it, but Nobody did it. Somebody got angry
about that,
because it was Everybody's job. Everybody thought Anybody could do it but
Nobody
realized that
Everybody wouldn't do it. It ended up that Everybody blamed Somebody when
Nobody did what
Anybody could have done."
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