Culture

In companies, large groups of people often tend to resist changes in their organization and maintain the status quo. Similarly, on a grand scale, let’s say an entire country perhaps - individuals tend to resist change due to wanting to hold onto the security that traditional approaches to life can bring.

In no way is this an attempt to gain attention or virtue signal. I just have some strong convictions about social media (Instagram in particular) that I want to document. I’m sure many would agree that a lot of growth occurs in your teens and early 20s. And us Gen-Z-ers have been given the involuntary responsibility to define social norms on these brand-new websites. As early adopters, we may not have thought ahead about certain aspects to prevent negative repercussions. Many trends are now so ingrained that they may be nearly impossible to reverse.

It’s been roughly ten years since I had my own library card. But I did, for a short time. I vividly remember going to the Scottsdale Public Library with my mom and brother after school to get new SSR books. Although I routinely darted to the section that housed the “Diary of A Wimpy Kid” books, I loved the library as a whole. There was something pleasant about going from the loud, chaotic playground at recess to one of the quietest and serene places we know of, which is intended for maximizing focus. Libraries have always been underrated, and now they’re virtually extinct due to online bookstores and e-book popularity.

Airstrip One, the fictionalized version of London, in George Orwell's provoking novel - 1984, is staggeringly similar to the America we know in 2020. It is inarguable that this year is one of the most unique, appalling, and critical periods of time that anyone alive has ever experienced. Due to many reasons, and a significant contributor being the COVID-19 pandemic, societies have faced momentous loss, hardship, and consequence. However, that is not all. 2020 America has come to many profound realizations of critical societal issues, holes in the technology system, social constructs, and law & order across the board. All of which fall under gargantuan sectors of how a first-world country functions.