By Matt Patrick, Columnist
The United Nations recently announced that we are within reach of eliminating extreme poverty.
Most economists agree: if we take the right steps, extreme poverty can be eliminated by 2030.
This means it is possible to deal with most of the poverty issues on the planet within the course of our professional careers around 2060.
Can you imagine a world where poverty no longer binds the potential of human advancement?
We are at a critical moment in human history where we are starting to fully realize the potential of our ability to reason and solve the issues of the world.
In all of this potential, though, we have a choice.
We can choose to trudge forward and sacrifice to make the right decision for the world, or we can choose to act selfishly and leave our impoverished neighbors behind.
A world without poverty would be a world with less violence.
A world with less violence would have more time to focus on scientific advancement for the betterment of society.
I believe that the “Millennial Generation” has the potential to be the greatest generation in world history.
We have the power within the 21st Century to eradicate many diseases and end poverty and violence on a large scale forever.
Conquering these social issues will require sacrifice and hard work.
We have the power to choose the future of our world and our nation.
Imagine what life could be like at the turn of the century.
Malaria is gone.
Cancer is fully treatable with low mortality rates.
Poverty is under control, if not completely gone.
With poverty no longer a large-scale problem, we can begin focusing on educating the world’s populace and ending mass violence.
With the rise of education and the decline of war, we can begin to solve our energy issues.
We can begin to focus on realizing our full potential in a world that is safer and more fulfilling.
We could begin reaching out to the end of our solar system and towards the nearest star.
These are lofty goals to achieve by the end of the century.
For right now, simply imagine a world like that.
After you imagine it, we have to decide whether it’s worth working and sacrificing for.
If you think it is impossible, it isn’t.
We have the capability. In the 20th Century, smallpox was eradicated in what became the greatest humanitarian achievement of all time.
How do we want our great-grandchildren to remember us?
Do we want to be remembered as the generation who squandered our opportunity, or the greatest generation that sacrificed and worked to usher in a new era of human history where people worked together to make the world a better place?
That decision lies with each and every one of us.
What will we choose?
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