I’m about to ask a question that I know is a tough question and one that will inevitably spark debate, but I feel it is important to ask and it’s been burning in my brain for quite some time.
So with that said…
Given what we know about the state of the world, the challenges mounting (climate change, global pandemics, income inequality, the fact that STILL 784 MILLION people don’t have access to clean water), if one does NOT work in areas of positive social impact and change is that negligent?
Is that person being negligent by willingly ignoring these issues and thus the jobs/careers that coincide?
Now a couple of clarifying points:
if one has to chose between cutting down a tree and feeding one’s family, humans will always cut down the tree
this question assumes some basic level of needs met (food, shelter, health)
there is of course a sliding scale of impact and positive social change - we are asking with the assumption that we’d have to take liberties in loosely categorizing what work creates positive social change and what work does not
What do you think? Let’s start the discussion.
Grateful to have you here.
Zach
I'm opinionated on this one... I think if we're not doing something to fix something/anything, then yes, we're being negligent. Especially when you consider that there are so many "bullshit jobs" that don't even need to be done — and are often making things more broken. We owe it to our future selves and our kids to be doing whatever we can now to keep this place inhabitable and we don't have time to dither about.