Reform

I honestly have no clue why we in America decided that our future generations need to have their whole entire life figured out by time we just figure out who we are. When I think of America, I think of a country that allows people the freedom to be whatever they want to be when they grow up. But how can I be whatever I want to be if I’m being pressured to decide what I want to do for the rest of my life before my brain is even done developing? Well I’ll tell you… DON’T! Our 20s should be the time where we are able to explore the world and everything that our earth has given to us. The only way to truly know what you want to do is to see everything that is available to you. 

Of course this isn’t going to be the exact case for every person. I’m sure that there’s plenty of people out there who knew what they wanted to do since they were 5 years old and that’s exactly what they ended up doing their whole life. But if people look at the recent data, they would see that roughly 50% of Americans who have a college degree right now, don’t or are unable to use their degree in the work field they wish. Which is all the more reason to take your time and make sure that if you do choose to go to college, you are going for a major that has a propitious outlook for future employment and demand.

People could argue that starting your career later in life would be hurting your retirement plans and future wealth, but the human life expectancy increases every single year. In the year 1900, the average life expectancy of a newborn baby would have been 32 years old, 32!! In 2024 almost 125 years later, our life expectancy is now more than doubled to 72 years of age. If we were able to double our life expectancy in a hundred years, who’s to say how long we will be on this planet another hundred years from now.

Now I know that the way our society is today doesn’t make it very realistic to just go and explore the world without already having a career. I will be starting college next year so I guess you could say that I’m being hypocritical of myself, but just because that’s what I believe in doesn’t mean that’s what I’m actually able to do. If we really wanted a societal change like this to happen, there would have to be mass accordance with this ideology along with many different political and economic reforms. Not to say it’s impossible, but it’s not something that one person would be able to change.

Starting school early is actually the perfect picture for how a government would want their people to behave. If I could get all of my tax paying citizens to enter the workforce as soon as possible and start contributing their time and and money to the national government, why wouldn’t I take advantage of that opportunity? But the mass will believe this because many people believe that our government would never give us lies with ulterior motives to help strengthen the gentry. People need to understand that WE are the government, hence “We The People” at the beginning of our constitution. It stands at the top to remind us that our land derives its power not by a king nor a dictatorship, but a democracy with its power held by popular sovereignty.

If we decide to move to this idea I don’t believe it’s something that I would be able to experience in my lifetime. But I hope future generations will share the same concepts as me and make the changes that I want to see for the future of our world.

“Newspaper – Careers” by flazingo_photos is licensed under CC BY-SA 2.0.