You’re Not Helping by Making a Difference

You hear it all the time: We need to make a difference! But making a difference in society often just results in increased inequality, and it’s not as helpful as you think. Sure, helping the homeless is great and all, but every time you give money to your local soup kitchen or food bank, you’re increasing the societal dependence on handouts. If we really want to help solve inequality in society, we need to rethink our approach completely. Here are some suggestions of how to do so without increasing inequality in society.

The problem with helping others

With all the inequality going on in society, it can be hard to decide how you can help. This will vary depending on who you are and what you want to contribute. For example, racism is a huge problem that not many people seem to recognize as important. If someone doesn’t care about racism then they aren’t going to make an effort unless they know how it feels first hand or are making enough money that they don’t care. There’s never one simple solution but together we can make small changes. It might seem like there isn’t anything you can do right now to solve this inequality because of all the factors at play. The best thing to do is find out what you think needs changing, take your time and research so you have good information. Think about where your strengths lie and see if there’s anything that could make a difference. Even if just talking with friends or family members is helpful too!

The real reasons people don’t help others

Unfortunately, making a difference doesn’t always solve the problems of inequality. For some, prejudice or caste is color enough. And for those who take the time to think about it, greed is the underlying reason for not helping others. So what’s wrong with making a difference? Doesn’t that count as help? Not if it’s just lip service; not if they leave everything where they found it on their way out the door. If people are going to make a real difference and work towards solving these inequalities, then society needs to look beyond color and caste when determining worth. Greed must be left at the door.

Our responsibility as digital influencers

One of the most important ways that we can solve inequality is by increasing our sphere of influence through actions like sharing and tweeting, interacting on social media with those different from us, etc. But there are some things that we can’t change through our digital impact. One crucial part of solving the inequality problem is addressing how we treat those who need help in society.

Start where you are, use what you have

You’ve heard it before: Think globally, act locally. I’m not trying to say that you can’t be engaged with what’s happening on the other side of the planet, but first you need to make an impact where you are. Change starts small. Let me share one example. The wife and her husband adopted two kids who were born addicted to drugs. They live in New York City, so they got involved with a drug rehab program called A Better Tomorrow. There are drug rehabs all over this country and world wide (you can find them through Google), but there is no point getting involved if you don’t know anyone personally affected by addiction or if you aren’t at risk yourself for becoming addicted yourself.

Education is the only solution for Inequality.

The only solution to solve inequality is education. People often speak about changing the system and making life more equal for all, but that’s not going to happen if we keep up our current way of thinking. The best way to change the system and make life more equal for all is through educating people, especially those who need it most: children. It’s been shown time and time again that if you give low-income students access to quality education they are less likely than their peers from affluent backgrounds not only live at poverty levels, but also exceed the median income levels as adults. This will change the future, this will be instrumental in solving social problems such as wealth inequality, employment rates among minorities, infant mortality rates across ethnicities-the list goes on.

conclusion

What are you currently doing to fight inequality? Do you need help identifying ways that you can create change or provide resources to the underprivileged in your community? There is more than one way to make a difference. We could be waiting for someone else to pave the way for our better future, but until then we need to keep trying different things and educating others about these issues as well. It takes everyone’s efforts combined to combat inequality. Let’s all do our part!

Education solves inequality.

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