I ask you this question: “What’s Going On?” Although there may be various answers to this question, I ask you this question in an aspect of taking a look into your surroundings and society as a whole. This question has been on my mind constantly for the past few months. Although, this phrase is famously coined by the late Marvin Gaye who recorded this song in the early 1970’s in an effort to reach out to a society that was dying of freedom, peace, love, unity and nationalism, this phrase has a very interesting connotation to it.
Although I was not born in this era, I have learned much about this era in American history to understand that it is in full circle. It is happening now. I know that I can reconnect to the feeling of dissonance when seeing what is happening within our society today. I know that the world is not perfect and that it will never be perfect. However, when we take a look into the spectrum of things that are happening daily, it is not looking good right now in order for a successful future for future generations to come.
With this being said, our nation is at war with “social” issues such as gun control policy and marriage equality. In all honesty, we haven’t been this conservative since the Eisenhower administration, which is definitely food for thought. The underlining stance is that each of these “issues” are not issues that have appeared overnight, they have been harboring over us for quite some time. They are not going anywhere and will not go anywhere unless we stop brushing them under the rug as if they never occurred.
The issues on gun control policy have been quite in arms since the school shooting of Sandy Hook Elementary took place in December last year, however, why did it take us so long to understand that the gun control policy needed to be changed in America, after several innocent lives were taken? At what point does it take for us to come together? This is a point that should have been reached decades ago, where we are able to execute plans to make it trying and difficult for anyone to obtain an assault weapon. There needs to be changes made and we cannot afford to just keep passing around legislation like this for the next presidency to pick up. Overall, we must all be accountable for our actions. We too are victims and are all responsible for our actions.
We cannot only blame the problems with society on just gun control policy, we still have to make a decision on marriage equality as well. As a nation, we are not accepting to transformation as we take heed to our rights and personal beliefs. Everyone is entitled to that. However, we have to realize and understand that not everyone is the same and that every person deserves a right to freedom. Meaning that marriage equality is now something in which we must be able to tolerate; it cannot be ignored. The world is growing to be very diverse, we all come from different walks of life and we all have different strokes.
I’m not in any way or form saying that you are supposed go against your own personal beliefs, but I feel that, as a society, we should at least be more concerned for not just the present, but for the sake of our future, our children’s future and if you want to take it that far, your grandchildren’s future. Each and every one of us is accountable for our own lives.
