Talia Nicole Fine

Evolution.

 

Progress.

 

Charles Darwin hesitated to connect such optimism to his theories of survival.

 

He feared calling the development of the human race "evolution" because the word implies positivity progress. Darwin himself did not think humans were always going to be capable of that.

 

Thus reveals the true nature of change: not so much that we need it or build it because we are smart or capable. We as humans are not always smart and/or capable, but change happens anyway. Change is both merely and essentially inevitable. It will come whether or not we aim for it; whether or not we are ready for it or want it; and whether or not it is for a greater good.

 

On one hand, this could yield a society of complacency -- a society that waits for the inevitability of change. I would point towards the person who discovered fire and the development of language as examples of such. Both events were relatively accidental but also monumental changes that were developed over time. Relatively dispassionate change.

 

On another hand, this could create a society that always pushes to create its own change. Consider the French revolutions. The people had a few main stages of revolution -- most famously 1789-1799 -- alongside multiple uprisings over the course of the 18th and 19th centuries. They simply could not wait and observe how their situation could change or improve given time for the systems in place. They chose to just break things down and build new things up over and over again, illustrating incredibly active change.

 

These are two extremes, and it does not quite feel as if we are accidentally changing the world or continuously cracking ours in half to start over. Nestled between action and observation, we have a reality that rocks back and forth with the current.

 

In the age of social justice and identity politics, it seems that we have finally understood the everlasting entropy of change. So, we try to affect it by taking action marching in protest, writing letters to representatives, signing petitions, voting.

 

A pivotal example of taking action for my generation is Obergefell v. Hodges (2015). The Supreme Court case gave same-sex couples the right to marry. Although many of us were young teens, we were able to at least observe the result of decades of people taking action and fighting for legislation to change.

 

According to CNN, the first gay rights organization emerged as early as 1924. After years of more organizations and pushing from activists, the first federal legislation to address discrimination based on sexual orientation emerged in 1975. A few marches, some legislation, entertainment developments, and about four Supreme Court cases decriminalizing aspects of LGBTQ behavior later, it all came to a point in our adolescence. It’s doubtful that many of us realized the full effects, but it’s undeniable that the nation felt the change.

 

But when we were a little older we saw the effects of people affecting change by not taking action. In 2017 when the United Kingdom began the withdrawal process from the European Union (#BREXIT), we quickly became privy to the pitfalls of the recall referendum. According to Statista, both males and females over the age of 25 voted overwhelmingly to leave the EU. Additionally, BBC stated that only about 40 percent of people younger than 25 compared to almost 80 percent of those older than 65. The young people who neglected to vote actually greatly affected the outcome of the election by not voting, not taking action.

 

These examples of affecting change feel important to remember a year after the height of the March For our Lives Movement. Each stage -- from the meteoric rise, to our local touch, then to the gradual plateau -- has influenced the present.

 

The meteoric rise was the 1-2 million people participating in the protest across the United States. The local touch was the branch of the march in Redwood City that some Carlmont students helped plan, and it attracted thousands of people.

 

The gradual plateau is not that there has been little development in any direction but that the conversation has stalled. There have been various states to take initiative, but questions are not being asked about the effectiveness or progress. Representatives claim the wheels are turning on national initiatives, but the process is not under a microscope. No matter what side you are on, we can learn from the past: change can come even when we don’t act.

 

So this is a cautionary tale. We don’t need change, nor do we create it. Change will come whether we want it or not. Our actions, or lack thereof, merely affect the direction.