Being 20 in 2012

Can you remember being 20?

When I first started to write this article my title was being 20 in 2012. My usual turn around for an article is one week; this article has taken me a staggering two months. My thoughts constantly changed which lead to a lot of editing. I write for a lot for various different publications and when writing I write about things that make me feel both inspired and passionate.

When I sat down I knew I wanted to give a young person’s perspective on the world. The truth is, I didn’t feel equipped to paint an accurate and representative picture of the world. I knew what it was like to be 20 but I felt like I could have known more about what that means in 2012.
My creative process for this article took me on a rather wild Journey, Something I was not expecting. I wanted to write about being 20 in 2012 but instead I began a journey of  research and self discovery. I delved deeper into myself and the world surrounding me challenging my deepest ingrained beliefs.
I have always had a very real understanding of the world around me. I consider us as a collective entity, as planet not as a country or nation.

The world is a lot of things, and I always knew the world was corrupt. That money makes the world go around and that it’s every man and woman for themselves. I’ve known that the colour of your skin can determine your opportunities in life, that your gender identity can determine how much respect you are shown. Or your sexual orientation can determine if you have the right to life in some extreme cases.
I think at the present moment in time the world is undergoing a shift in consciousness, people are waking up and realising it’s time to change. It’s easy to forget that in every single era of history things were different. We as people have never been so tuned in but so unwilling to do anything about it. Are we missing the bigger picture? The bigger picture is that things can change. In every era in history change had to happen for us to get to now. How is it that we live in a democratic society but our governments’ do what’s in the interest of the few at the peril of the many?

Flowing through every issue either directly or indirectly is money. How would we cope without money?  Why has it become the lifeblood of today’s society? Are we being held at knifepoint by an invisible force that essentially was created by us in the first place? Sadly we have been conditioned into a rat race where everyone is trying to get ahead of everyone else regardless of morals. 

Society tells us that we have made it when we have a penthouse apartment and all the material possessions we want at our disposal. What society should tell us is that we have made it if we make history in trying to change the world, that we leave behind a legacy in helping others who are less fortunate that ourselves. Ironically those less fortunate than ourselves probably wouldn’t be if money wasn’t the driver behind the wheel of this crazy train we call life.

Why should I work hard and do something that I don’t care about just so I can be happy. For me happiness is a journey it is not a destination. I want to work with an NGO and naturally I want to help people. I have no bloodthirsty desire to worship the corporate world. I will not Bow to the Dow so to speak.  
What if I told you 3 billion people are living in absolute poverty?  Does it make sense that some people are allowed to have more than others? Could you live on £1 per day? Why should those 3 billion people? At what point do we stop ignoring this? We have been tackling global poverty for years and the gap between the rich and the poor is only widening.

It’s okay to admit that we may have it wrong. It’s okay for us to try something new. What’s not ok is, to simply sit back and say that scientist will come up with more energy or governments will solve the world economic crisis.

Don’t be a bystander in the revolution, don’t leave it up to politicians. Get up, stand up and speak up.

Ciarán Weir

@CiaranWeir
Ciaranweir91@gmail.com

I don't Like Black, Asian or Gay People

So I've recently had a conversation, with a friend of a friend. He was such a nice guy until he sprung it upon me the actual fact that he's a rampant racist and is quite comfortable in being so. To some extent I think he was trying to bulk up his personality to come across as cool or opinionated.


Let's set the scene. We're in a bar and the girls are dancing, we're just chilling on the sofas and chatting. He was totally enamoured with my Irish nationality and we got to discussing what we studied at university. He studied sports management; I study Abuse Studies which he screwed up his face at.

He eventually spoke about how he doesn’t really think human rights are relevant and how in the UK our human rights aren’t as good as in other countries. At the time I spent half the conversation trying to source what he meant by Human Rights.

 He spoke how he thought immigration in the UK should be banned; there were too many immigrants and the fact that he couldn’t wear his hood up to "hide his identity" but “Asians” can wear “head things” to hide theirs. Why is he hiding his identity in the first place? It gets better... He also said he doesn’t like black people because "they think they own the place". Gay People are another "dislike" of his. He doesn’t mind gay people who don’t let people know they're gay. People shouldn’t wear or flaunt their sexuality. They should accept that they don’t have boobs and move on.

 When I challenged him, his response was that he has some Asian, Black and Gay friends and he doesn’t mind them. But for these groups of people he gave me examples of why he doesn’t like them, these being based on experiences he has had. These experiences were based on a very limited sample of people.

He also gave me a scenario where he wanted a job at his dads work and he didn’t get it because an Asian person got it. I suggested that maybe this person got the job because he was more qualified or suitable for the position. He disagreed and simply put him not getting the job down to him being white.

Me being totally sober I let him rant nodded along. I let him have his space to talk openly. Then it was my turn...

I didn’t see how he could brand a whole race of people based on his experiences of just a hand full of people. He took my point on board but it wasn’t staying on board. It became blatantly obvious that this racist streak was deeply indoctrinated. No matter what I said he came back with a rubbish example of why he doesn’t like “them”. What is them? I think this is the very essence of humanity that we could do without. We brutalise each other’s souls because we fear the unknown. People are different. I think as human beings it’s our duty to step outside our comfort zones, explore the unknown and take each person as an individual. Not what they are or who they are.

Does racism come down to the fact that the individual isn’t that bright and thinks that he is culturally superior to everyone else? It’s a problem we’ve had since the dawn of time. In the new age of diversity and globalisation it’s now more than ever a major issue.

Open your mind but don’t lose sight of your values.
Please leave me your thoughts.