JianYu (Damon) Zhang, Period 7, 1/10/23

JianYu (Damon) Zhang

period 7

11/10/22

Socio-political Consciousness

It was 2 A.M.

After scrolling down the abyss of the internet for hours, I yawned and put my phone down. Seeing celebrities’ deaths, climate change, federal policy changes, and the doomsday clock itching closer and closer to midnight, social media exposed a world of inequality and oppression to me, and it made me feel sad. Sad that I could not make a change until I became 18. Sad that politicians seem to ignore the separation of church and state. Watching niche documentaries about social/political problems, these social media indulgences gave me a general distrust against authority and power, and it gave me an urge to speak out against inequality and oppression. I thought about these issues, and was also thinking about the fact that civil and women’s rights were given within the span of a century. I realized that society is changing rapidly. Whether the changes were beneficial or harmful were up to debate, and one change was the overturning of Roe V Wade.

As I was watching news of “Roe V Wade overturned” and seeing such a split reaction, it made me think. I faced the fact that my ideals are not the same as politicians' (or others’) ideals, despite how my confirmation bias asserts that mine are “correct”. I realized that there may be external factors that alter their decisions in policies that I do not know. I find myself debating against some of my online friends who have severely different political beliefs that I do. These discussions, such as healthcare and the whether “the US government is spending too much on military and can allocate the money to something more beneficial to the people”, opened my eyes to other peoples’ perspectives. Their arguments that “despite how the US is at peace, it is good to be prepared with an extremely strong military, because its military strength would reinforce its establishment as a global superpower and give it more negotiating power” made me consider my own argument. This revelation would make me reconsider the “short-sighted laws” that politicians send out, and believe that maybe it will change peoples’ lives in ways I have not thought of. Today, I try to look at conflicts from multiple perspectives-an ideal emphasized in Mrs.Fusaro’s class.