On the precipice of the Vietnam war, famous folk singer Bob Dylan once sung: “Well you better start swimming or you’ll sink like a stone cause the times they are-a-changin”.
These timeless words seem so prescient and ominous in the uncertain times we find ourselves today, in the wake of the bloody war in the Middle-East, inflation, the Ukraine invasion, Trump’s presidency and Artificial Intelligence (AI) modifying and “streamlining” the way we work.
Sadly, the skills more people are developing lately are related to how to “perfect” their AI prompts to visualise a concept instead of struggling to understand photography or learn an instrument and use critical thinking.
I dread the long-term effects on our brain processing power after decades of relying on producing prompts instead of pondering and solving some of the problems ourselves.
It is often said that each generation assumes they are living in the “end times”, while the one preceding it feels that today’s youth are “doomed, spoilt, entitled” and frying their brains with TikTok and Instagram.
Whether it’s the baby boomers emerging from World War 2, millennials witnessing changes in music, movies and computers reshaping our daily lives.
Today we find Gen-Z caught in the throes of social media, political turmoil between the left and the right and surviving a pandemic that shackled the world to slow down.
However, I find Gen-Z’s social consciousness and urge to call out injustice when it comes to racism and discrimination so important and so inspiring when it comes to uniting in the name of love, peace and understanding, especially with the far-right so eager to mock and belittle their voices and stake in the world.
We are but one species who all depend on each other for our survival and yet political ideologies and religious extremists continue to divide us and even lead to wars and death where hospitals and schools filled with children, are reduced to ashes and become “collateral damage”.
Sadly, some of us lack the curiosity and empathy to imagine what its like growing up in a different background, culture, way of eating and celebrating life.
It’s such a joy to travel and meet someone and their family from a different background and share a homecooked meal around a table and see how similar we are when it comes to providing a fulfilling life we can be proud of.
Each of us is swimming in a dark, mysterious current that can drown us or inspire us to swim.
As ordinary citizens we have to navigate, survive the challenges that meet us in each revolving era, God forbid we find ourselves in World War 3.
We owe it to our children and the next generation who are hungry to help the world and live a life that is unique to them, to support them and guide them on their mission to make their mark in society.
Our parents always speak fondly of the golden oldies they listened to growing up like the Bee Gee’s, Bob Marley and Whitney Houston and simpler times, so too are the next wave of youth eager to see how today’s artists will provide the soundtrack to their lives.
There’s a reason why the 80s sounded different to the 90s, a new dawn had descended with new exciting ideas.
Thus I remain optimistic that the youth can lead us out of the darkness that breeds division, hatred, warfare and deliver us to a moment in time where we can speak to each other around a table instead of shouting and justifying our opinions.
Amidst the social upheaval of the 60s another inspiring tune by The Beatles echoed on the airwaves and still soothes to this day with the simple message which said, “all you need is love”.
This simple mantra can heal the world for those who wish to listen and those who choose to care.
