To be honest, I think the popular glorification of apathy of my generation needs to stop. Whether it manifests as a ploy to get attention and followers on social media or as a sincere character trait, not caring about other people and the things that happen to and are done by them is not something to be praised. On the contrary, it is something to be discouraged.
Those people who frequently tweet about wanting to change the world often also tweet about how they no longer care or will no longer try to institute change. While these vague cries for attention probably tend to apply to specific personal relationships or pursuits, they perpetuate an idea in direct contradiction to progress of any kind. Not caring about someone will not change him or her; rather, it will simply cause the apathetic person to be forgotten and to be no longer significant in that person’s life. Similarly, choosing not to care about something, whether it be school, work or anything else, ends up causing a person to become irrelevant in whatever context it may be.
I find it difficult to understand how being apathetic has become trendy. It is strange to me that, in this time of such extreme scientific and artistic and social development, someone could want to live without working as hard as possible to be part of the change. I see posts and hear claims discouragingly often about wanting to run away to music festivals and beaches for the rest of one’s life. While these kinds of escapes can easily be temporarily appealing, it is ridiculous to strive for a lifestyle like that. The change which some people are running away from could be used to correct some of those disgusting things that make mainstream life so unappealing to those running. And to be a part of that change, we have to care about the things that contribute to it, such as school, news, the environment and the lives of people other than our loved ones and ourselves. It is so incredibly important to realize this, especially living in a nation that is grossly well-off in relation to most of the world.
In order to help people, and in order to change the world, we have to care. Progress isn’t made on accident, and lives aren’t saved by chance. You have to work to make things better, and you have to put in effort to make yourself significant in the world, despite the egotistical sentiment of which this generation reeks. Next time you think, type or say, “I don’t care,” think about where you would be if those who came before you had felt the same way.
