If everyone cared

To the Editor: I have just completed my first semester of college, and I have come to the realization that there is something wrong today (specifically with students); nobody seems to care about the state of the world, for it does not affect their lives. The status quo needs to be challenged and I think that this time of year, often symbolic of re-birth, is the perfect opportunity to enact social change. I was recently listening to the modern rock group Nickleback and their newest song, “If Everybody Cared.” I think that if everybody cared about the Tibetan region of China, the conflict in Sudan, the status of women in the world, or the poverty that exists because of corrupt governments, the world would change. A certain sense of accountability would fall onto the governments of the world, and if everybody cared, change would most certainly take place. I know it is difficult to care about something far removed from our everyday lives and culture, but in order for us, as a people, to advance it is imperative that we speak up. The price of silence is far too high, and we need to raise our voices today. I hope that is season of renewal will ignite a fire in at least one reader to do something, to say something that will cause change to come. If people care, swallow their pride, but differing beliefs aside than I think, figuratively speaking, in the words of Nickleback, “then we’d see the day when nobody died.” James Hurley Chester, N.Y.