This may well be the last article I ever write for the Manitoban. And while I didn’t say everything I wanted to say, I hope that I said something that struck one of you in some way. It has been a very significant experience for me, and, leaving university, I feel as though writing for the Manitoban has helped me feel connected to the student body in a way that physically being on campus never did. Even if you only loosely supported the Manitoban, I thank you for the opportunity. And please, never doubt the value of student media on campus, for I owe a good amount of sanity to it.
But all those words and ink are in the past.
What many people don’t know about me is that I often feel the weight of duty on my shoulders — duty towards our species and its role in the future.
While I’m aware that one person can have only minimal effect, I’ve noticed that many adults have resolved to do very little about any of the problems they notice. They feel the world is too big, and complicated, and while this appears to be true, it would perhaps seem less difficult if everyone pulled their weight and chose to do something with their life that at least aimed towards making a difference.
Yet here we are with the remains of all successes and failures, still witnessing the unsympathetic nature of capitalism, still taking more from the Earth and our poorest nations then we give, still leading a consumer life that tells us driving the market with our desires is an average person’s primary role in society. While some may be satisfied with a house and a big screen TV, ignoring the inequality that continues its unabated reign over humanity, I will not.
Though this has been said many times before, we’re all going to contribute to the future that’s approaching. Even if we’re just some side player in history who washes cars and has a bunch of kids, that’s a contribution which will affect the entire species. But contribution to the future does not just come in what we end up doing; it’s also formed by what we neglect to do. I’ve met many lazy dreamers during my time in university, and sadly many of these people were professors who, despite vision, lacked the courage and energy to fight openly for a better world. To me, these types of people are worse than those who simply accept whatever dogma they were born into, as lazy dreamers have had there eyes opened, yet still fail to act.
My own personal sense of duty comes from two sources. The easiest to understand is responsibility to future generations. If you do nothing with your noble dreams, you’re passing the problem on to your children, and the children of others. However, I also believe we have a responsibility to past generations. We’ve survived this long and advanced this far, but this was not accomplished without great effort from those who came before us. To do nothing with your life is to spit in the face of the entire human endeavor — to say, “Thanks for getting us this far, I’d love to help, but my shows are on.”
We may not all be able to make equal contributions, but every contribution plays a part in pushing the bar forward and doing your duty to humanity.
I’m a person of grand dreams and ambitions, some of which I’ve hinted at during my time writing for this paper. Every day I feel both pathetic and useless until I’m able to put my energy into something that may just make a difference. I have no illusions about the tiny nature of my contributions, but know that I’m working everyday to make greater change.
If your dream is not of wealth, but of duty, if you feel the weight of history on your shoulders, I wish you luck, and am here to say you’re not alone. Let’s do our part to share the load.
Corey King hates awkward goodbyes.
