The Hammer and the Hose

I have always wondered where every human being in my generation has formed an opinion about something; for every single person has a reason for why they think the way they do. I have seen it within arguments over the simplest topics such as the gender wage gap or climate change. It is frustrating to have a conversation with someone who does not share the same opinion as yours.

I wonder if people care enough to dig deeper into important issues that could have a massive impact in our country, or the world for that matter. I find myself questioning the world I live in and daydreaming about having control of the entire world, just so I can fix all of the world’s problems.

Growing up in a world of imperfections and having no power or control over these issues heard on a daily basis can be discouraging and irritating. I regularly question the media’s depiction of international war and conflict within our society. It’s almost as if the media is lighting our own homes on fire and showing us diagrams of a device in the making called a “hose” but shows the government using a hammer to try to combat the fire instead. You want to scream and shout at the television, “Just build the hose and extinguish the flames! The hammer isn’t working for anyone.” But this hose needs a certain number of congressmen’s votes in order to even begin building it.

The hammer is a violent way of combatting the fire. Why bang a hammer on a flame for years on end when you can build greater tools to extinguish the conflict in a more productive way? Sure, hammers built the foundation of our home and have been used to make our lives better in the past. But just because one method is helpful in the past does not mean it will always remain successful in the future.

Humanity is a war: a war between the use of a hammer or a hose. A hammer in this case could represent the use of guns and weapons. A hammer could represent the use of coal that severely harms the environment. It could represent any tactic that has helped us discover something new but yet needs a lot of work.

Americans gained their independence with the assistance of guns and built this country from nothing. Americans discovered coal and began mining for its use for industry and innovation. Both of these accomplishments were attained with teamwork and knowledge.

We all know of this history. I think it is time for us to reflect and acknowledge how great America has matured. But on the other hand, we cannot continue to use these tactics with current situations because they are both flawed and create conflict between different groups of individuals.

Our world is more global than ever before. The way we interact with other countries cannot be violent, for humanity has come too far to cease new ways of thinking. We must keep trying to combat issues in ways that have not been used in the past that have been known to fail in one way or another.

The idea of the hose is in front of our faces, but people need to be strong enough to grab hold of an idea and put it into action. I have hope for our country to move forward and encourage creative thinking. I have hope for our generation and for future generations. And ultimately, I have hope for world peace, because not only will we be able to build endless amounts of hoses, but we will be able to stop a fire before it even begins. I may not be able to see this invention in my own lifetime, but I will die with the belief that humanity is constantly fighting for perfection.