I don’t think one person, or even a group of well intentioned people, have the capacity to change the whole world. It is a combination of several factors, really. The first, namely, is that if one person or a group of people succeed in changing one part of the world, there are still the other vast parts to consider.
Secondly, the world is comprised of a thousand different mindsets. Is it even morally sound to attempt to change mindsets to the one that suits you best, however well-intentioned you may be?
For example, if you set out to change the way women live in Mauritania out of righteous indignation for their rights, you may be causing more harm than good. They might happen to enjoy that way of living and deem it perfectly normal in their eyes. Of course, they might not also, but the point to be highlighted here is that ideals are vastly different across borders and cultures, and something you might see as an atrocity might be completely healthy for somebody else.
So, changing the world is then a much more impossible task. How do you conform everybody to one single ideology? Would that not be a dictatorship? Wouldn’t you have to be a person in power to make any difference whatsoever? And what about those people who would stand in your way? Greedy politicians and money guzzling businessmen and contractors wanted to build massive pipelines and destroy the natures and homes and habitats.
And what about what you would change? There is so much wrong with the world that one would not know where to start, and how to start, and how to go about fixing what was wrong in the first place!
You might be thinking that all this sounds tremendously negative. Why would anybody even bother to try anyway?
Young people think they are invincible. Free. Setting out to not turn out like their parents and achieve better and higher and much more. And to an extent that is true. They are just starting out and they have years ahead of them and very few responsibilities.
What do you think? Do you want to change the world? And how would you go about doing it?
Ocean Bream 
No, quite franky I personally wouldn’t want to change the world. Because, changing the way a person thinks might suggest that there IS something wrong with the way they think. Which is false. Regardless of what you think or believe, another person’s way of thinking is something to be respected. Not liked, or understood. But definitely respected. The way I see it, I’m gay. Now, to some people that may be wrong. Which I understand, but I most certainly don’t like it. And the only way to achieve the acceptance I so relentlessly seek out from other people, is to accept those people. I’m a firm believer in the saying, ‘What you put in, is what you get out.’ And I feel that it really applies well to this.
Similarly, I believe in God. Now, I am aware that not everyone believes in God. Nor do they want to. But, what do is, I respect what other people believe in. Whether that is another Religion or Atheism. Because what I want is for my beliefs to not necessarily be respected, but rather accepted.
Very thought provoking post, sorry for the lengthy response!
– Ainsworth, 🙂 Xx
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Thank you for your wonderfully well thought out response! Definitely refreshing to hear your perspective. There is a fine line between respecting somebody’s way of thinking and agreeing with it, and many people think that respecting an opinion means agreeing with it! But, wow, yes I completely agree.
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I guess some people do have the capacity for it, or come along at the right time – witness Lenin et al. Of course, the result will often be highly questionable, as you rightly say. Changing the whole world for the better is indeed a big ask – revolutions have a habit of ending badly – but there are many areas where changing the way people think is desirable, even necessary, and not, I hope impossible. The gun lobby, FGM, Isis… The list is long.
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Oh, you’re on the mark there. Some things do need changing, but do we need a revolution? I also think revolutions end badly because there is so much resistance. The world is too vast to change completely, and yet we are constantly changing! Thank you for your interesting perspective, Curtis.
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