Many things demand solutions.

Our First World problems, like

Pollution.

National debt.

Unemployment.

Animal abuse.

Student loan payments.

 

I understand – hopefully you do too –

That we cause these problems with our

Carelessness.

Greed.

Apathetic attitudes.

Cruelty.

Teenage financial illiteracy.

 

It’s true. Perhaps unpleasant to admit,

But true. We have brought this upon ourselves.

As a society, this First World,

No, our New World is fallen.

Like Babylon in 539 B.C.E.

 

Some of us care.

The rest of us scoff at the

Tree-hugging,

Wolf-crying,

Modern-day

Hippies.

 

Some of us try to stop national debt.

The rest of us sneer at the

Paranoid,

Compromising,

Hard-nosed

Conservatives.

 

Some of us fight to give others chances.

The rest of us sigh at the

Ignorant,

Taken-advantage-of,

Delusional,

Dreamers.

 

Some of us can’t stand cruelty.

The rest of us scorn them, those

Softhearted,

Overemotional,

Naïve

Animal rights activists.

 

Some teenagers have learned responsibility.

The rest of them spurn those few as

Straight-laced,

Goody-two-shoes,

Prudish

Teacher’s pets.

 

I may be short-sighted, selfish even,

To focus on these problems

In light of the rest of the world.

But we have caused them

So we must fix them.

Then we can fix the rest of the world.

 

How? 

I don't  think the answer lies in

Better waste management,

Different national leadership,

Government programs,

PETA, or

Improved financial education.

 

I believe the answer lies in

All of our

Hearts.

Changed hearts.