Too many people say that they cannot bear to watch videos on disturbing world issues and how talking about certain topics upsets them. If you can relate then congratulations, you're a human being! It's not out of the ordinary to get upset over disturbing videos and books about terrorist attacks, climate change or any other issue society is currently dealing it. In fact, it should make you upset because if it upsets you, then that means that there is a reason it's disturbing, that it's doing harm to someone or something.
I know that it can be hard to inform yourself about tragedy, nobody wants to voluntarily learn about scary world issues, but we need to learn about these issues so we can fix them. How can we work on correcting the pink tax or obstetric fistulas in women in Africa if we don't know that it's happening? Not knowing about things like sex trafficking and the poor conditions for zoo animals can do just as much damage as ignoring the issues because people cannot advocate and fight for the injustices they don't know are happening.
Along with being informed, we need to realize that we have to stand up and speak out for what we know is right. Just ignoring or refusing to believe controversial topics like modern day racism is so much more damaging than people think. If there wasn't an issue, there wouldn't be a whole #BlackLivesMatter movement on it. Just doing research can be a big help, watching and reading information from many different sources can help to gain a bigger insight than you thought possible. Documentaries especially, they give you an entirely different perspective first hand. Understanding both sides to an issue is also crucial, after knowing both arguments you can pick a side and more thoroughly advocate for one side.
I think the most important thing to know is that every effort counts. You don't need to be rich or have power to create waves, you just need to try. Yes, no one person can change the world, but making an effort and doing all you can really does help, more than you think. Ripple effects can happen, you can inspire other and even making small donations of a few dollars every few months doesn't go noticed. If one hundred people read this article and donate a dollar to a world issue cause, that's $100 donated, and if everyone who donated tells one other person about donating a dollar and then they donate a dollar, that's $200 donated and so on. Rosa Parks wasn't rich or powerful, she was an ordinary woman who stood up for herself and she became a legend for her simple act of not moving to the back of a bus. Not saying that if you volunteer at recycling center you'll become the next Rosa Parks, but anything you can do helps, so thinking that things will never change or you couldn't make much change anyway is inexcusable.
Everybody is passionate about a world issue, there are tons to be passionate about. And things can and do change. At one time in history, people shrugged their shoulders at slavery and said "that's just how things are" but that didn't change the fact that it was wrong and people saw this and made change happen. To think that someone is going to swoop in and start making new laws and policies to fix world issues is useless because we, ordinary everyday people, are the solution to all the world's problems. Even if you hold an unpopular opinion, fight for what you want to see change because nobody is going to do it for you. And the first step in fighting for justice is knowing about the injustices.
