Young Writers Society

  I am just as tempted towards buying unnecessary things as anyone, but how can I use my money for anything but the essential? There are millions of starving children and homeless poor in the world right now, hungry for the simple needs. How can I not save my money for the organizations that exist to help with these things, if I am not to act in some dramatic way so save this world? I know that even if I don't hike out to Pakistan to risk my life and make big speeches, I can help the dying and oppressed, by using what little I do have to give before it's too late. And if I’m gonna do so, I’m gonna have to stop buying things.

   It can take a bit of a perspective switch, but it's really not so hard to see, why something as simple as buying a T.V. is messed up in the bigger picture of things. The way American lifestyle encourages us to use our money for hoarding piles of stuff, when we could be slowly (but surely) saving the world with our money... how can this be viewed as anything but insanity? In the light of a world that is falling apart, I think that every kind of power you can acquire is a responsibility, and we as Americans take this more seriously, we will contribute to a world without ignored minorities, without people that feel like helpless inmates, and a world without horrors that everyone tries not to think about. Inspired by the possibility of a world like this, I am changing my lifestyle, and I hope that you will come with me.

   I refuse to give myself to the pull of consumerist overdose from this point onward, and I intend to save all money for my needs and the needs of the world. Even with local stores and thrift shops and used-book sellers like Amazon, I am going to be very careful. I am choosing to give money to organizations like the Malala Fund, and to anyone who needs it. I am choosing to save any money I receive, for higher purposes that will arise. I know it is extreme, but in an unbalanced world, we need extremists who are willing to tilt their life very far in one direction for the sake of others. Too many are amassing on the selfish side of the see-saw. I will go as far as I can because I know that I want to die with the knowledge that I gave all that I could. This is true peace, and a peace that the things we buy can only reflect.

   For those who are thinking about how things can be very useful and beautiful, I am not denying the value of our things, only saying that we need to appreciate what we have. I am sure that I will end up wanting things as much as any American out there, and they will all have value... education, fascination, artistic appreciation, practical help, etc. But I am sure that I will refuse them because I believe in libraries and Nature and the possibilities already owned, because I know how much can be found for free. With a little creativity, all that I could ever ask for is in the world around me, right here right now, and I know that no matter what incredible good may lie in the unnecessary, it's still a distraction. It can help people in all sorts of ways, but is it really as good as the better world we all dream of, that we all could work towards together with time and energy and money? Of course not!

   I believe that the world of peace will grow out of people who realize that they are not taking full responsibility for the power they are acquiring, and choose, without hesitance, to change this cycle. I believe it will come through the people who save their power so that they can aim it in the direction of peace. And I believe, undoubtedly, that we can be these kinds of people. Thanks for reading. Tell me what you think. And if you can, donate to something like the Malala fund, an organization that a 16-year old girl in Pakistan started, the girl who inspired me to write this. 

Amen.