A Dreamer of Gen Z: Ideas, Opinions and More!
“Imagination should be used, not to escape reality, but to create it." Colin Wilson (Author)
Development is said to be a slow process. It can take years, if not centuries, for a country to be considered as ‘developed’. A country is not developed when it has sky-high buildings, lavish restaurants and other infrastructural advancements; a ‘developed’ country provides the citizens with basic needs, such as public sanitation, healthcare facilities and employment.
A developed country should have a stable economy in all sectors and a proper average income as well. Now, amongst this debate on development arises an important question. Can India be considered a developed country? Well, many experts say it is… complicated. I myself have pondered on that question on countless evenings (when I was too bored to do anything and wanted to do nothing but laze around).
As the future citizen of the world, naturally that is obliged to happen someday! After doing so, I have arrived to some conclusions and have thought of my own ideas to make India a proper developed country, which I will be sharing with my fellow readers today. So, grab a pillow and be comfortable in your seat while I take you on a journey based on the pure ideas of a Gen Z kid!
Before I dive in, I would like to mention that our situation as Gen Z kids is very worrying. We do not exactly have a lot of resources left. We have no fossil fuels left for our machines. Forests are being cut down, leaving us with less wildlife, more global warming and increased global catastrophes. Pollution is evident in every city and diseases are spreading, costing us our lives. We are quite literally in a fix, which is one of the reasons we have to do some Big-Brain-Einstein stuff to save ourselves.
The problem with the Gen Z is that they want to work less and earn more, which is impossible because hard work and money are quite obviously directly proportional. They are also a little reckless, not caring to consider what others might think of their actions when necessary. And their addiction to games and social media deserve an honorary mention as well! In the midst of all this, they have failed to notice some global situations which need immediate attention. Unfortunately, they are too busy checking the number of likes their Instagram stories have gotten!
India has always been considered a “third world” country in the eyes of foreigners. “Third world” is a derogatory phrase which refers to a country having weaker economies than the rest of the world. However, that is not true. India is now one of the fastest growing economies in the world, with an average annual growth rate of almost 7% for the past ten years. Now that is arguably very impressive! The main reasons for this are a dynamic private sector, a thriving middle class and a great industrial economy. Foreign investment also takes part in this achievement. Other developing countries are currently falling behind due to wars and natural disasters, mostly the European ones. We have the advantage of a good geographical region as well. Hence, natural disasters are minimum. However, India is still not fully developed. Poverty is still evident in every nook and cranny of a city. Safeguarding the rights of the citizens is a challenge. Proper healthcare and education facilities are still lacking. Other technical factors are also involved, but some of the other important factors, mostly considered negligible (for some absurd reason I still have not figured out), are what I will be elaborating on.
As I mentioned earlier, infrastructural development is not actual development of a country. However, as absurd as it seems to be, I am of the opinion that improving the conditions of our highways and promoting road safety might help the developing process. Approximately 1.19 million people around the world die as a result of traffic accidents each year. Filling up potholes and installing speed cameras is important for the safety of the citizens. In most countries, traffic regulations are generally strict. In Saudi Arabia, for example, speeding can cost you almost as much as your average monthly income. Running a red light is no different. Trucks are supposed to be in the outermost lane of the highway, and if they are not, the truck driver is likely to lose his job or worse, go to jail. Indian regulations are on a completely different level. If all Indians were to be bestowed by these laws, more than half of the driver population will be poverty stricken or in jail… literally. The two wheeler drivers should be specially mentioned here- patience is just not their cup of tea!
To improve this situation, however, bestowing at least basic traffic regulations is necessary. Speed cameras should be installed around the cities and on highways. Better roads should be constructed using better equipment, and a proper team of people apart from traffic police should be made to see to it that rules are being followed. This team should be provided with pursuit vehicles. Crossing a lane without using the indicator and driving down the wrong side of the road should also be prohibited, and motion sensors and cameras all around the highways and traffic signals should be installed so that these rules are followed. All number plates should be registered as well. It may seem improbable in the beginning, but I am sure it will work wonders. After all, millions of lives will be saved and those very millions may come up with brilliant ideas, such as Big-Brain-Einstein stuff!
Another important issue to address is deforestation. Take the state of Maharashtra for example. All around the roads are vast, never-ending concrete jungles. Not even a speck of greenery for hundreds of kilometers. Only when you go to the outskirts of a city will you see some hills and jungles. Entire forests are cut to accommodate our growing urban population and for industrial purposes as well, thus reducing wildlife greatly. Seeing as trees give out oxygen which we need to breathe, I do not understand how cutting them is a smart move. Awareness on population control can also be promoted.
Improving this situation is somewhat tricky. This is because since we have already built the concrete jungles destroying them to replace them with trees is not practical. However, we can make an effort to conserve the wildlife we have left. Illegal activities such as poaching should also be tackled by raising awareness. In areas where forests are being cut for power generation for industrial purposes, solar panels can be used. Research on Nikola Tesla’s wireless electric generation would also help (it is worth a try).
Water and air pollution is also a massive issue nowadays. Many people lack access to clean drinking water even when they are living beside rivers, lakes or other water bodies. This is simply because they are too polluted with plastic or toxic wastes to be drinkable. The air is also toxic with petrol or industrial fumes, causing many diseases and heart-related problems.
To resolve this situation, dumping of any kind of waste into water bodies should be deemed illegal, and a massive fine should be put upon whoever breaks this rule. Recently, a plastic cleaning boat has been engineered to clean seas and oceans. It collects all the plastics in a net and uses some amount of it to generate power for its motor, while at the same time freeing the water of thousands of tons of plastic every year. Further technological advancements like these would be very useful. To minimalize air pollution, people should use public transport instead of owning private vehicles. Banning the ownership of more than two vehicles would also help. I will not talk about the use of electric vehicles, because, quite ironically, the production of one lithium battery harms the environment more than most gas emissions. Unless we find a solution to that, we are not exactly being pollution-free by using electric vehicles. Vehicles running on hydrogen or water is a better option, but technological advancements in that field are limited.
The reason our government has not already taken these measures is simply because of politics. Politicians who are against the government could perhaps use these new measures and turn the people against the government. He/she may suggest, for example, that the traffic regulations and all the speed cameras is a mere tactic of the government to make more money. This, in turn, will aggravate the public. While it is true that the government may benefit from these traffic rules, it is crucial to understand that safety is of utmost importance as well. Many projects that could not only have helped in the development process, but also could have helped the environment, were never even considered to be started due to ‘political reasons’. It is one of the very reasons our country lacks the little development it needs. It makes me shocked and surprised to think that some people living in the same world are reluctant to incorporate the measures which might benefit themselves as well as the environment.
Being a good human being is equally important. Ego and anger should be kept aside if the world is to be developed into a better place. Respect for the elements of life is necessary. Food should not be wasted and the poor should be offered help. I recall mentioning that India is considered as a “third world” country by foreigners. It is about time we change that and show ‘em what we got! I myself am hoping to bring about these changes in order to make India truly developed!
“The greatest threat to our planet is the belief that someone else will save it”
-Robert Swan (Polar explorer)
Sources: 1. https://groww.in/blog/the-10-fastest-growing-economies
2. My very own brain!