the human experience

“In the West today many young people do not have a meaning and purpose to their life. They’re looking to say, does my life matter? Do I have a meaning or contribution to make?…In developing countries this is a lot more clear. They may be in a crisis or conflict situation, and so for them it is clear: I need to survive, I need to get an education, I need to get a job because someone needs me, and that someone can be family or a friend, and in a larger sense sometimes that person or that entity can also be their country that needs them…..And this is an extraordinary gift and advantage that people in the West don’t have. Many young people today feel that they are not needed, that they can be replaced in the workplace by just about anyone for less money, and this has created a kind of cultural question of, Do I matter?”-- AH

Almost every single person at one point in their life have this feeling, they need to know what exactly they need to do in life. I still to this day wonder what exactly I am supposed to do in my life, and if I have a bigger role to play some day down the road. The real question I ask myself is do I have something big I will contribute to, so I can have meaning to life. This quote shows that in developing countries younger adults and even kids have a huge role to play they need to survive, get educated, and help out their families or even their very own country. Having the ability to help provide for their family is important, and that gives people in developing countries the answer to the question we all face, does our life even matter. In America our sense of direction is not as clear, I do not have a war going on in my backyard and getting at least a high school education is a very easy accomplishment to achieve. I also do not have to worry about providing for my family since my parents already do that. So I ask myself all the time, do I matter? Will I be a person that changes the world, like finding the cure to HIV/Aids, or will I be a