This time the passengers of the @ecotrain were asked a very thought provoking and profound question. At least, this is what I thought when I first read this question. We were asked to think of the things we would look back after 50 years in the same way we look back at slavery, sexism, racism and child labor. It took me a few moments to completely understand the question and for a few days I couldn’t come up with a proper answer, but after much thinking I knew what I would look back in 50 years’ time with great disbelief just as I look back at child labor, sexism, racism, slavery and different sorts of inequalities. So here’s my answer to this question.
I wrote above that I couldn’t understand the question stated above at first and it took me a while to come up with a proper answer to it. When I didn’t quite get it at first, I was a little dismayed at myself. Did I not understand its meaning? Was my English becoming weaker with time? Was I so silly I couldn’t get a question that people understood quickly? After pondering on the question for some time, I understood exactly why I didn’t get it at first. That’s because I realized that more or less, I would look back at the same things in 50 years as the things I look back at now.
This realization in itself was very disturbing because it meant that in 50 years’ time, the state of sexism, racism, gender inequality, slavery and child labor would be more or less the same. Although we like to believe that child labor, sexism, inequalities of sorts, racism and slavery have more or less vanished now or are occurring on a small scale, the truth is far from that. As I was thinking of this, I came across the post by @gardenbsquared on the same question and his answer is quite similar to mine and it helped me get clearer on what I felt about the topic. Thank you for that
In Pakistan, the situation is quite the same still. Children as young as 4 years are made to work at workshops and sell things like newspapers, candies and clips. Not only are toddlers and young children deprived of their right to have fun, study and live a normal life, they are treated poorly at the places they are forced to work at and often, they receive hardly any money for all their hard work.
Racism is still rooted in the mindset of the masses here. Pakistan is a predominantly Muslim country and I am honestly proud and happy to be a Muslim, but sadly, I am not proud and happy to be a part of the society where people do not have the tolerance to treat the minorities as equals. My religion in no way teaches violence and the beauty of almost all the religions I have come across is the same. All the religions preach love, compassion, generosity and tolerance, but sadly we don’t get to see its practitioners following any of that. I still remember an incident in a village near Lahore where a Christian couple was burned to death by the religious clergy men of the village because the couple was accused of blasphemy. The truth was that those people were forcing the couple to convert to Islam, but they didn’t want to abandon their faith. When they refused the offer, the so-called religious and pious people of the village decided to take the matter in their own hands and burn the couple to death.
When I heard of this incident, I was honestly ashamed to be a part of this society. I didn’t want to be called a Muslim. But then I realized it wasn’t my religion that was to be blamed. My religion is as beautiful as it could get. The problem lied with the people and their sick mind that interpreted things negatively. This is not just the one time an act of brutal racism took place; there are countless episodes that have happened in the past and those that keep happening. I just don’t wish to go into those details right now because just this one incident is making me feel sick to my core.
The situation with slavery and sexism is more or less the same too, at least in Pakistan. Slavery still exists here, yes not in its harshest form, but it is definitely here. People often leave their children to work for families and most of those families treat those young maids and servants as their slaves. They aren’t given food and water on time; they are made to sleep out in the cold or in rooms where they feel suffocated; they are burdened with more work than they can handle; and they are constantly ridiculed on being poor. Not only that, but if their master does not feel happy with their work, he/ she reserves the right to punish them and punishment often takes the form of physical abuse. Abuse isn’t limited to just that; the young maids and servants are often victimized by sexual abuse too. Honestly, writing about this is paining me and as much as I feel like stopping here, I think I should go on so we understand that the situation hasn’t really improved since the past 50 years.
If you look at sexism, it is more or less the same too. Gender inequality and unfair treatment with people of the opposite sex mainly women still exists. Yes, this situation has improved to some extent here and people are becoming more broad minded, but it is still there. So 50 years from now, I will be 79 and if I am still alive then, I would more or less feel dismayed looking back at the same things we look at with disbelief 50 years ago. The inside is still the same; it just has a glossier, more pleasant looking packaging on the outside. We are still who we were 50 years back, but we have somehow managed to give a better appearance to things which often sidetracks us from the real issues.
However, I do think that some things will have surely changed for the better. I would like to believe that the maltreatment many of us practice with animals and the environment currently would have somewhat improved. A lot of initiatives have been taken and are being taken to protect animals and the environment so I think I’d be looking back at how cruelly we treated the animals 50 years from now and I’d hopefully have a greener environment after 50 years too and would be dismayed to see a less green environment 50 years back in time.
Do share your views on the topic and on my answer too.
Love and light,
Sharoon.
I am proud to be a part of #thealliance which is helping many Steemians grow here.
I am also a passenger on the @ecotrain which is the home of some amazing people who keep inspiring others in many ways.
