BRAVE NEW WORLD

Identity is defined as the sameness that some individuals share to create a common universe. This definition creates the understanding that culture can also be included, as culture consists of the ideas, customs, and social behavior of a particular society. In this sense, culture is what makes us one when seen from the outside. There is culture in schools, countries, families, generations, and so on. All these cultural identities are what the existing social mass has taken as its identification, because they represent what that community stands for.

The reality is that people cannot exist without culture. Earlier in this magazine, we discussed different kinds of cultures, most of which are deemed harmful to youth.

The question is: “Is there something better?” I will answer that in a moment.

Selfishness and fear of rejection are two of the most common traits of many harmful youth cultures. Every teenager and young adult wants to fit in; everyone wants to be popular. Everybody fears standing out, and everybody fears rejection. In addition, almost everyone thinks about personal benefit. The motive behind many actions of the mass is to get what they desire. Few consider whether they trample over another human being to achieve what they want. Even actions that seem good often have a selfish motive behind them. Everyone is running for themselves—it is like a colossal rat race.

So the answer to the question “Is there something better?” is a big, loud, resounding “YES!” Think about what society would be like if everyone put someone else first. Imagine the joy and peace we would experience if everybody genuinely thought about the well-being of the person next to them. Imagine if the entire youth saw each other as blood relatives—brothers and sisters. Take a moment and picture a world where everybody stopped chasing after money.

In regard to fear of rejection, think about the beauty we would have if every teen and young adult freely expressed their creative ideas. What if everyone had open ears to someone else’s creativity? Or consider a world where nobody feared failure and everyone contributed something meaningful back to society.

It starts with small things. Today, it might start with having a sincere conversation about ideas with someone. Tomorrow, it might grow into positively influencing millions. It all starts with you. It starts with being genuine, not holding back your morally upright and creative ideas, and most of all, treating the person next to you as you would treat yourself.