The United states has been battling with deep political and social divisions for many years, and young people are not invincible to this reality. As the next generation of leaders and decision-makers, young people have a crucial role to play in bridging the gap between these divides and working towards a more united America. Young people can contribute to this goal by actively participating and seeking out diverse perspectives. Many people have expressed their thoughts on these divisions. An author by the name of Danusha Lameris, who wrote a poem called “Small Kindness”, in it she celebrates the power of small acts of kindness in our daily lives. Acts that may seem insignificant, but they have a profound impact on the speaker, reminding us of the goodness in the world and inspiring her to pay it forward. Another author by the name of Michael Paterniti, wrote a essay called “Eating Jack Hookers Cow”, the essay takes us on a journey to Kansas, where we encounter Jack and Bev Hooker, owners of a motel, and their rival Bout Sinhpraseut. Through his detailing reporting, Paterniti offers readers a close look of each character, providing insight into their hopes, struggles, and prejudices. He talks about what it means to be an American, but also dives deep into capitalism, family, xenophobia, immigration and love. Both of these pieces give great insight about the state of the world we live in. As much as I would love to say that America will one day be a united and open-minded country, I do not believe that we will ever get to that point. However, the role as a young man living in a divided America is crucial, as we have the potential to act as bridge-builders, catalysts for change, and agents of unity. By actively engaging in civil discourse, advocating for social justice, seeking out diverse perspectives, we have the ability to work towards a more equitable and inclusive society.
First, as a young person in America it is crucial that I actively participate in civil discourse. Civil discourse is about being able to show respect for others by listening to differing view points. In short, it is about open-mindedness and not judging people on the opinions that they may have on how the world works. This is such an important skill to have, especially as a young man or women. Someone who demonstrated this skill was someone named Meghan Phelps-Roper, in Adrian Chen’s piece called “Unfollow”, about Meghan Phelps-Roper and her journey of having strong views due to the church she associated with but then opening her mind and eventually changing her point of view on the world just by hearing someones else point of view and actively listening to them. In the piece Chen states, “It was, like, just the fact that I thought about it, I had to leave right then,’ she said. ‘I felt like I was going to jump out of my skin”(4). After long talks on Twitter and a tremendous amount of information consumed Phelps-Roper began to question what she truly believed after digging deep into information on social media. Although she had a strong view point on the topic of social injustice and the LGBTQ+ community, her ability to keep an open mind allowed her make a life long friend named C.G. who argued against the beliefs and practices of the Westboro baptist church which is the church Phelps-Roper was apart of. I truly believe that anyone in this world can change their viewpoint on a topic of discussion. As long as you are kind and respectful about how you argue your viewpoint it is easy to change someones mind. The world we live in today is more kind and interactive than we all believe and hear. A lot of times you hear people say how bad the world has become and the division of people is greater than ever. But I disagree, I believe that there is hope left in the world. A women named Danusha Lameris wrote a short paragraph about the society we live in. In it she says, “Mostly, we don’t want to harm each other. We want to be handed our cup of coffee hot, and to say thank you to the person handing it”(Line 8-10). As young man in America I’m always searching for how I can help someone or make their day, it may seem cliche but it truly makes a difference not only in that persons day but my day as well. Unfortunately, not everyone thinks the way that I do. Many say that America will never agree with each other and it will always be split between in its beliefs and this is something that I absolutely agree with, it will never be perfect, but I believe that there is hope in the fact that we can add more kindness to the world we live in.
In addition, we have a responsibility in advocating for social justice and discrimination towards cultures and races politically and professionally. It is important that we educate ourselves about the history of discrimination towards different cultures and races, and the social issues that affect them. This will help people understand their struggles and how you can best advocate for them. As a young man not only do I need to educate myself but I have a big responsibility of working hard and doing jobs that need to be done. This new generation does not want to do harsh and crazy jobs anymore, just as I explained earlier this generation is becoming soft and does not want to harsh work. In the piece “Eating Jack Hookers Cow” Paterniti says, “Honest work by good people. But now in those slaughterhouses, you can’t find many people wanting to do the job. Jack Hooker did it once. Wasn’t pleasant, but he did it. But now it’s the Mexicans and those Asiatics.” Most American men do not want to work harsh labor jobs in todays society. Now I really do not want to get to in depth on my beliefs on why this generation has become soft. But I think parents have been more and more lenient with their children, and those children are growing up to not want to do the jobs that are required for the world the function properly. At the end of the quote, I find it very interesting that it is Mexicans and Asiatics. They are coming to our country on a mission to provide for their families back home and they do what is required of them no matter how they feel. That is a real problem with men in todays society, all men do things based off of their feelings and emotions. As men we need to act and do things even if we do not feel like it.
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