Waiting On The World To Change
by John Mayer

me and all my friends
we're all misunderstood
they say we stand for nothing and
there's no way we ever could
now we see everything that's going wrong
with the world and those who lead it
we just feel like we don't have the means
to rise above and beat it
so we keep waiting
waiting on the world to change---
it's hard to beat the system
when we're standing at a distance
so we keep waiting
waiting on the world to change
now if we had the power
to bring our neighbors home from war
they would have never missed a Christmas
no more ribbons on their door
and when you trust your television
what you get is what you got
cause when they own the information, oh
they can bend it all they want
that's why we're waiting
waiting on the world to change
we keep on waiting
waiting on the world to change
it's not that we don't care,
we just know that the fight ain't fair
so we keep on waiting
waiting on the world to change
and we're still waiting
waiting on the world to change
we keep on waiting waiting on the world to change
one day our generation
is gonna rule the population
so we keep on waiting
waiting on the world to change
we keep on waiting
waiting on the world to change

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I was just cruising around one time when I heard this song. It's true, a lot of folks connect with this point of view. There is a tremendously gargantuan problem in the world, you get so mad at it that it may drive you nuts, that everything you see everyday ---be it the homeless in the streets, the burglaries and the court cases of rape or child abuse, the war and the heavy human toll it brings (be it civilians or military), and the lies! lies! lies! that you hear the US administration and all its cohorts are drumming in everyone's ears, and include the evening ads of helping out impoverished kids in the third world; all are cries from the human heart. All are reflections of how this world is deteriorating so much because of our current "human relations."

Yet, someone has told me one time that our present day technological advancement has actually gained so much resources that we are now able to eliminate hunger. I repeat! WE ARE NOW ABLE TO ELIMINATE HUNGER. WE ARE NOW ABLE TO FEED EVERY SINGLE CHILD OF THE WORLD!!!

But why are we not doing so then? Why do we still see more than half the population of the world living in poverty, with destitute faces not able to roam free in the afternoon sun, enjoying the company, playing with friends and not think of whether you will have supper tonight, or having the warmth of a place to put your mind in deep slumber? Why? It's really quite a simple answer. Two things. One, we need the vast majority of the people to move and solve the situation and, two, that all of them have to agree on a valid solution. It's that simple. But it's a solution that, sad to say, is so so hard to achieve at our current state of affairs, especially with mass media being the mouthpiece of an elite minority.

And so it is quite a plausible result that so many people would rather just not do anything and wait! Wait on the world to change. It's the easier thing to do. A "flight response" I guess... a "Who cares?! You'll never win! It's pointless anyway, right?" response. I used to get so mad at this kind of responses, but after sensing that the social norm arise collectively from what psychologists call "learned helplessness" (i.e. learning that whatever one does, it does not achieve the results one desires) , it still pains me but I understand the sentiment better. It pains me because like everybody else I like to see a better world but I need others to be all together; and also, I see that the psyche of my friends get so messed-up because of an absense of hope for the future. And hope is a very powerful tool to have but disastrous in the absense of...

...Anyhow, much as I would try to linger on this thought, I will stick to hanging out with friends, and enjoy their company. I'm sure that in the middle of our conversations, we will touch on this subject. And I will tell them what I see, what I think, what my hopes and desires are, and how we are much more the same really than we're different. And that maybe, I can help them reflect on what can be done, and what really lies behind the lies of our modern-day age, and how we should all be... togetherness (as Chuck-the-grandmaster-Berry always said). And in the end, we will do all that we can. In the end, we will live with our hearts free, bold, and happy, despite the turmoils of today's world. Happy, because we are doing what we can. We are waiting o the world to change, yes, that's true. But we are also lending our hands in the ways we can. And that, ladies and gentle souls, is what it's really all about.

So, please. Don't fret. It is not that folks are criticizing you. It is just because of frustrations sometimes that "too much criticism" gets on the way of things. Don't worry, it is meant well. All that is really being said is to do what we can. Folks give in different ways. All that is being asked is what you yourself can. That's all. Nothing more, nothing less.

So now, feel better?

In the Filipino language, we say, "grabe ka naman! wag ka namang masyadong pikon..." In English, it's meant, "It's ok, man. Just chill."