Blog Entry #6: Bigthink.com: Conversations about the BIG questions
What do you think we should all be doing to improve the world?
"Well the answer is love. You get the question. No we have to . . . We have to have . . . We have to understand that we are a community. We have to understand we are a nation. We have to understand we are a world. And we are all part of a greater concept than generally we have time to think through. People are working too hard. They’re caring about their kids. They’re caring about their job. They’re caring about their parents. They’re caring about Boston Red Sox. They’re caring about other kinds of issues. But we are a community, and we have to understand that we, in this sense, have responsibilities. And we have to keep them . . . keep those front and center in our minds and hope that there are people all over the world that are understanding that, and that are going to help us try and make this a better place for all." -Ted Kennedy, U.S. Senator
I couldn't agree more with Ted Kennedy's answer to what we should all be doing to improve the world - we should all be loving one another. I really do think that people need to put others first in their minds if we're going to successfully make the world a better place for all. Everybody needs to be more selfless.
On the other hand, I don't mean to be a pessimist, but I do not think it is possible for everybody to love one another; at least, not with the way the world is at the moment.
Loving one another is a concept that we are all often reminded of constantly, especially because we (the Mary Ward community) are a Catholic community. Sure, in theory, this concept makes sense... but in reality, do you honestly see it happening everywhere for everybody? I know that for a pessimist, I'm pretty optimistic about the idea, but it really is easier said than done. The world is a big place.
I think that Ted Kennedy's answer is the best answer to the question of "What do you think we should all be doing to improve the world?". I simply cannot think of an answer that's as good as his. What else could we possibly be doing to improve the world? Loving one another is very general, very broad... maybe not all of us have to feed the hungry in Africa, but it is much better than hating one another.
On another note, I really like the concept of Bigthink.com, but our dear beloved Youtube will always outshine it. When I clicked the link to view the website for the first time, I was excited to watch some intelligent, thought-provoking discussion... but I wasn't as interested in what the site had to offer as I thought I would be. It's sad, but I didn't really care for some of the issues that I saw on the front page. It took me a while to decide on a video to respond to for this blog entry.
Youtube's concept and approach is very simple, and is very open-ended for everybody... which is why its attempts to reach people will always be more successful than any 'intellectual' website like Bigthink.com. There is always something for everybody on Youtube.
