Trace anything back through human history and you will find the same theme over and over again: humans have a tendency to destroy everything we touch. Anything important, pure, or simple better be hidden far out of our reach, because the moment we get ahold of it, nothing will be left.

Paint me a pessimist if you will, but I must expand on the matter to say I am not looking at the glass as half empty or half full. I simply see a glass and that is that. This reoccurring theme of selfishness, greed, and war must come to a screeching halt. (This is the part where you roll your eyes and say “No shit Emily, what else is new that everyone else hasn’t said a million times.”) Well here is a question for you: these things humans have practiced throughout our existence, how well has that been working out? And why have we not learned from these mistakes yet?

There could be several answers to these questions, the first being ‘It hasn’t been working for us well at all.’ Thirty-five people were killed in terrorist attacks in Brussels on Tuesday. Sadly, a terrorist attack is not all together surprising in this day and age. No less tragic, of course, but with Paris just getting back on their feet from their own attack, how can we be completely shocked when the entire world has been on edge recently?

As for the other question…I don’t have an answer to it really. One of my favorite sayings is from George Santayana saying, "Those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it.” Of course it takes thousands of years to make mistakes and learn from them which we have done so in many cases. But for some reason, no matter how advanced technology gets or what great achievements we make, I am beginning to wonder if we will ever find what it takes to walk the earth alongside each other in peace.

We live in a world filled with massive nuclear weapons and high tensions littered with threats and violence. And sometimes the horrendousness of the crimes committed is too much to talk about, but that cannot be an excuse anymore. We must address the lawsuit against UT, the extreme prejudice between the two political parties, and, as of most recently, the terrorist attacks in Brussels. Though as hard as it may be, it is time to face the ugly truth and take action already. The general population is looking to the corruptness of government and its leaders when the power to change these things lay in our own hands, the power of the people.

So I can sit here and write columns every week about different types of oppression, research modern day slavery and all of the senseless and violent crimes we commit against one another, but at the end of the day it will always be lost on me and my words will change nothing. We don’t need people preaching, we need people acting. That is why it is up to us. It is our responsibility to learn from our parent’s mistakes and the generations before them. To accept one another as we are and instead of generating so much hate and oppression, and to simply be kind to one another will be the world’s greatest achievement as it is. It is our jobs to educate ourselves on these matters and pass these teachings on to our children so that they may grow up with the respect and understanding this world needs before it is too late.

I am tired of being scared while in large crowds or stadiums because they are seen as targets. I am tired of looking over my shoulder when I walk alone at night and pretending to be on the phone to feel more safe. I am tired of reading about senseless murders and attacks on each other. I am simply tired of living life in a world so full of fear that it is every man for themselves rather than recognizing our strength and pulling together. We don’t have to keep living like this. The change is up to us.