The setting of the sun

Everyone likes looking at the sunset. The pink, orange, and red hues that paint the sky are mesmerizing to watch as the world gets darker around you. Considered romantic and beautiful, it is the perfect setting for a date or hanging out with friends. Each one is a reminder that tomorrow is a new day and a new attempt at whatever is worrying you. When I watch a sunset, I think of time passing. Of how the days, weeks, and even years fly by faster than you can keep track of. Our time on Earth is fleeting and coming to terms with it is a very difficult and complicated task. We only have a limited time to become “accomplished” in life and fulfill our goals. For some this may be acquiring as much money as possible and living in a mansion. For others, it means to experience a wide variety of things like skydiving, travel, and deep sea diving. No matter what you want to spend your time on, it is a version of what society views as “accomplished”. This is simply a race against time to do as much as possible so there is no regret when your time on Earth is up. In that case, isn’t society motivated by fear? Subconsciously each human being is aware of the inevitability of death and wants to defy it, so they fill their lives up with as much experience as possible so as to not die without truly “living”. But, this is futile as death is a constant. However, we must continue on even with this knowledge because if we dwell on it, the motivation to do the very thing that defines human existence would be lost.

Ignoring Climate Change

Americans have a history of ignoring the overall impact of their actions in order to cater to their own tastes or preferences. Examples of this include the eradication of Florida flamingos for their feathers (and subsequent popularity of pink plastic lawn flamingos) and the popular lobster being boiled alive in order to be eaten. But there is another pressing issue that many Americans and the world as a whole tend to ignore due to inconvenience: climate change. Our planet is becoming warmer and yet no one is doing nearly enough to combat it. One large contributor to this problem is fast fashion. When it comes to clothing, people tend to care about getting the cheapest price and what is currently in fashion. Companies try to get production costs down as low as possible and create new garments for each “season”. But what no one considers is the impact of these ever increasing demands on the planet we live on. The fashion industry accounts for “10% of humanity's carbon emissions.” This comes from all the factories creating the garments, shipping, and many other things involved in the process. To make matters worse, unsold clothing that is deemed “out of style” or “last season” will be thrown in the trash and end up in the landfill without a second thought. Another root cause of the issue is plastic bottles and other plastic products. The demand for plastic bottles is so insatiable that 20,000 bottles are bought every second and people don’t want to make the switch to reusable bottles due to the inconveniences they may cause (like having to bring them everywhere). As a consequence though, “Between 5m and 13m tons of plastic leaks into the world’s oceans each year” which endangers wildlife through possible ingestion or strangulation. 

Western Medicine is "Civilized"

When we talk about other countries or cultures we often look down on them as being inferior compared to ours. One of the reasons for this is because of the use of traditional medicine in these cultures. Americans are so used to our westernized “logical” medicine that when we are presented with a method that is unfamiliar, we immediately denounce it as “false” or “magic”. Modern medicine is seen as civilized, so we don’t question any faults with this system.  However, there are in fact quite a few problems with it. One of the most commonly talked about issues is overprescribing. 46% of Americans over 65 in 2019 were taking 5 or more medications. Taking this many medications causes a sharp increase in adverse side effects. Over the next decade these side effects are expected to hospitalize 4.6 million older Americans. People tend to just want a quick fix to their problems rather than making a long term lifestyle change to combat it, because it takes a lot less energy. Drug companies, however, benefit from this problem because it makes them a lot more money, which they obviously care about more than the people’s health. Also, medication commercials usually only feature good things about the product and have an extremely fast reading of all the harmful side effects at the end. This is a common joke but it actually contributes to this problem. Another problem is the insane cost of many drugs people need to survive. These include epipens, insulin, and cancer medications. Companies claim the soaring prices are due to new “innovative research” being conducted but this is often false. These issues and more show that western medicine is perhaps more logical, but it has its faults as well. We should question what we accept to be the only truth and try to see things from multiple perspectives.

"I Want a Boyfriend"

This is my version of Judy Brady’s “I Want a Wife”, satirizing the expectations of a boyfriend.

I want a boyfriend. I want a boyfriend who pays for every date, without expecting me to pay for anything. I want a boyfriend who also picks me up on time and drives me to each date. A boyfriend who buys me makeup, flowers, and jewelry, even when I don’t ask for it and even when it’s not a special occasion. I want a boyfriend who is loyal to me no matter what. A boyfriend who doesn’t even look at another girl in a way that I don’t like. But, of course, I want a boyfriend who understands that I may flirt with other boys for my own reasons. I want a boyfriend who listens to all of my complaints and anything else I want to talk about. But I want a boyfriend who doesn’t bother me with his troubles because they may stress me out. I want a boyfriend who will forego hanging out with his friends to hang out with me. But I also want a boyfriend who isn’t upset when I do things with my friends even if we already had plans. I want a boyfriend who is always the first to apologize after we’ve had a fight, even if it was my fault. I want a boyfriend who will not get upset if I am rude to him. A boyfriend who will never be rude to me after a bad day. Who wouldn’t want a boyfriend?