If everyone did one good thing for someone and then asked them to pay it forward, the chain would continue forever and the world would be a better place.
Yada Yada Yada.
On the surface, "paying it forward" -- as it's come to be called due to a popular movie -- sounds like a brilliant idea. But why, you may ask, doesn't it work?
In my opinion, it doesn't work because people are self-absorbed. Do something good for a certain type of greedy, self-serving person and they think they simply deserve it. America has become a society of people thinking they are entitled to good deeds on a regular basis. If people didn't think that they were entitled to these good deeds, they'd be thankful and want to repay the people that do these things for them. But that is not the case. Many people in America feel entitled to things they aren't entitled too -- extra, above-and-beyond type actions.
America is in need of a cultural revolution, people. The question is, what are we, young people, going to do about it?
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Well for the most part many people do good deeds but look at the benefits they will recieve for it. For example you donate to a charity in a tight community you get respect out of it. You help someone with house work they will tell others about it which would gain respect.
http://www.colbertnation.com/
http://www.NRA.org/
Wouldn't it be nice if everyone in the world was kind, altruistic, and had the best interests of the world at heart?
All you can do, really, is change yourself. That's where revolutions start. If enough people decide, "Hey, I'm human, and therefor I can be selfish. I'm gonna work on that.", then maybe we can have a cultural revolution of the kind you describe. Here's hoping.
Actually, it came to be called that in the popular book, and it's a wonderful idea. Never seen the movie, but I love the book, because if you'll notice the greedy, self-absorbed person in there pays it forward to make himself look good: he tells everyone he invented the idea.
Half the reason ideas like pay it forward don't work is because people who would do something think "but it's not going to make a difference, no one's going to pay it forward", so they don't pay it forward either.
And I'd say we young people are having a decent start, coming to a website like Progressive U. to toss ideas around.
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~I know you believe you understand what you think I said, but I am not sure you realize that what you heard is not what I meant.~
Thanks for clearing that up, I wasn't aware that it was a book before it was a movie.
But even if it was a book before it was a movie, it was still the movie that popularized it.
what can we do to change this?
and i honestly think people arent as selfish as we make them out. All teenagers have become the stereotypical selfish person, but in reality i think selfish people only make a small percentage of the population.
Em <3