How my blog will save the world.

Well, maybe not all the world, but I'd settle for Australia at least.

It's really easy to think that what you say online doesn't matter. I mean the internet is expanding at a rate comparable to that of the universe itself! Who cares what one little blogger has to say, right?

WRONG.

There's this theory - I like to think of it as the critical mass or snowball theory, and it's the reason that my blog is going to help save the world.

Picture courtesy of criticalmass.wikia.com

It goes something like this:

When an idea or product reaches a critical mass, it will eventually spill over in to general acceptance. Wikipedia uses the example of the fax machine. I'm going to use women's right to vote.

For example: no one would now question the fact that both men and women are entitled to vote, but just over 100 years ago, this may have been a hotly contested point. It took quite a while for men to accept this and for it to become the societal norm, but hey, it did.

I feel that gay marriage is finally reaching that tipping point in to general acceptance. Maybe not everywhere, but definitely in pockets of the West at least. I saw a really good example of this on my Facebook feed only this week.

Mozilla, who make the browser Firefox, have just fired their new CEO. Why? Because he is against gay marriage and is generally regarded as a bigot by those who work for him.

From the article: "There was a time when supporting gay marriage made you a radical. Then there was a time when it made you a progressive. Now we’ve reached a point where not supporting gay marriage makes you unfit to lead a major Silicon Valley organisation."

Ouch.

So, now that we all understand tipping points, let's get back to saving the world shall we?

The reason I am going to keep blogging and adding my little grains of sand to the debates happening around me is because I have all-of-a-sudden come to a realisation that my voice counts. Not because I am anyone special, but because I need other people like me to know that I am one of them. I'm on their side. I am thinking the same thoughts as them and getting super mad about the things they are super mad about too.

We have now reached the tipping point in this blog post where I feel the need to declare where I stand on a few issues so that you, dear reader, will know if you and I are on the same team. I feel that we could be already if you have read this much, so feel free to rejoice in the following:

Renewable energy - it's not a "Greenie" thing to do, it's not an out there future policy or technology, it's a smart move that will a) save us money in the long run and b) conserve what little natural resources we have left. Stop dicking around and get on with it.

Dumping shit in the Great Barrier Reef. Really? I have been learning about 'the environment' since I was a little tacker in grade 1. We were taught about recycling and pollution and all that stuff. I went to a government state school. I grew up on the Queensland coast. Tell me how I am not meant to care about this issue when the very government that is screwing up our World Heritage Listed icon is the same government that taught me to look after it. 

Gay marriage is not so scary and if it scares you, you probably aren't gay so it's not going to affect you anyway. Find something else to argue about.

Racism makes me sick. I have had several awesome conversations with my good friend Beti. She was born in the US but is of Kenyan heritage. She's from a upper middle class background, her dad is a uni professor and her mum is, um, I'm not sure, but she doesn't like swear words... Anyway. Beti was telling me about the conversation all black American dads have to have with their sons. It goes like this: If you are ever approached by a policeman for ANY reason, do exactly as you are told and say nothing. Do not ask questions, do not resist at all. If you do, you may be shot.

Um, what? Does any white person reading this even know this is a thing?

Trayvon Martin's death was not an awful inconsistency in police attitudes towards Black Americans. It is more than anything a glaring neon sign pointing to the systemic black-phobia still prevalent in the US. Don't even get me started about Australia, you don't have the energy.

These are things that I am mad as hell about. I have decided that I will no longer stew quietly in the corner while things I give a damn about are being wrecked. This blog is one way I am putting myself on the record to say no.

To paraphrase a great quotation - bad things happen when good people stand by and do nothing.

Here's to a critical mass of savvy Gen Yers influencing general acceptance now and in another hundred years' time.