Us-Young People CAN Change the World

     There is nothing that corrodes the morale, strength, and purpose of a generation more than futility and believing that you cannot do anything to change the environment in which you live. Young people have been changing the world for a long time-and still are! Young people are perhaps the most powerful people on the earth right now and forever. We are only as good and as strong as we choose to be.

    A man who was 32 wrote most of the Constitution, the document which guides our government on how to govern in the United States. That 32-year-old man was Thomas Jefferson. He was only 32 years of age when he wrote: "We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness." And Alexander Hamilton was only 21 years old when he became a Founding Father of the United States of America. He was 34 when he founded the Federalist Party and was 44 when he founded the New York Post. The New York Post has been around for over 200 years. Thomas Jefferson could have sat by and let the older Founding Fathers set up the framework under which this government should operate, but he chose not to. He realized that this newly established country was as much of his as it was Ben Franklin's or Samuel Adams' or George Taylor's. Alexander Hamilton was not even old enough to run for president when he created a political party that would produce 2 presidents.

    A 15-year-old girl from Pakistan was shot in her head by the Taliban for fighting for every Pakistani girl's right to learn. At 16 years of age, this girl wrote a memoir and gave an amazing speech to the UN on the importance of gender equality all around the world. The following year, at 17, she went on to become the youngest winner of the Nobel Peace Prize. She fought for girls to be able to learn and she did not stop when she was shot by the Taliban. Can you imagine the fear and the absolute terror and pain that she felt as she was targeted and shot by Taliban insurgents? Malala was shot in her head and kept going! Can you believe it? Malala has since graduated from college and has gotten married, all while continuing her fight for girls' rights to an education in Pakistan. Her fight is not over and she ceases to give up.

    Do you get the point yet? One person can change the world. It does not have to be an older person who brings change to their world, but it can be a young person. Take a look around the world and our history. It only takes one young person to lead the charge against the powers that be and the other ails of the world. 

    Bob Kennedy was only 36 when he became Attorney General and began working to take down the mafia, and was even younger when he stood up to Jimmy Hoffa and other corrupt union officials. Napoleon was 24 when he conquered Italy and became the general of the French army. At the age of 35, he became the emperor. Alexander the Great began fighting and conquering countries when he was 18. And when Phyllis Wheatley was 20, she became the first-ever African-American woman to be recognized as a published poet!

    There was a quote that Lyndon Johnson used that I liked and it went something like, "Don't wait for the time. Create the time." The quote meant that you do not have to sit by idly and wait for "the right time" to do what needs to be done. You do what needs to be done when it needs to be done. If not now, then when; if not here, then where; if not me, then who? As long as we do not believe that the duty of changing our society is the job of someone else and believe that it is our individual duty to serve and change, then we will truly see the amazingness of ourselves, and the world will be better off for it.

    I hope that you have all learned something from this article and that you will take initiative to better the world around you. It does not have to be drastic. It does not even have to be political. Do whatever you can whenever you can to make our world a better place.

    As always, stay educated (and compassionate and determined), my friends!