Since when did we, as a generation, start saying, “not my responsibility” when it comes to really important things in our lives? We, in this country we call home, are at stake – but how come we blame everyone else, but ourselves? 

Now hear me out.

We’re all taking a break from responsibility, but this break will last indefinitely if we let it. It’s a simple enough claim. 

It just feels all too good that we get a convenient restart every year. We don’t have to follow through on our New Year’s resolutions, we make grandiose plans that go straight into the trash and we feel bloated all the way through. We’re even socially rewarded by keeping our heads down and not deviating from the norm. 

But I’m here to annoyingly remind you that harrowing times are here. The ultra-conservative push to dissolve birthright citizenship and prop up deportation initiatives is the era we live in. It’s the apocalypse where things don’t make sense. There is no reach for reason or logic now. It’s this apocalyptic feeling that festers, and we are desperately trying to avoid it. It’s getting messy- no matter who you side with. 

This year, we’ve exited the Paris Agreement – again. According to the Council on Foreign Relations, global temperatures in 2023 shattered records. Global temperatures are poised to grow past the 2-degree Celsius limit that is enshrined in the 2016 Paris Agreement. 2024 is the hottest the planet has ever been, as the average global temperature was 1.5 degrees Celsius hotter than the pre-industrial period. 

From historical, record-breaking wildfires to record flooding and Florida beginning to sink, the modern apocalypse is creeping up and we all acknowledge this. 

The “Whatever will I do with myself?” mantra just isn’t going to cut it anymore. Are you a helpless princess? No. Are you an infant waiting to be cradled by mommy? Also no. We need to start getting our act together not because Gen Z is mystically burdened with the fate of saving the world, but because we just have to. There’s no other option besides letting the world spiral into chaos because we want so desperately to escape responsibility. 

It might not be über-hot and sexy to be worried about climate change or foreign wars, but we’re going through the course of history — together. Maybe the fact that we’re in tumultuous times with each other can at least give you some solace. 

I like to call this phenomenon the Exodus from Responsibility. Whether things are inside or outside our individual control, the main consensus today is to abandon responsibility while we still can, before our worries and fears can consume us. Yet it is still our problem, not just a problem of an individual or a corporation. We own it. 

It’s in the cards for us; responsibility is intuitive and we want to rise to the occasion, but our egos get in the way. 

Therefore, we must set aside our egos and attempt to resist our temptations to YOLO it all away. Responsibility isn’t convenient and that’s the point. 

According to the Council on Foreign Relations, “The United States has provisionally agreed via a memorandum of understanding (MOU) to provide Israel with $3.8 billion per year through 2028”, only fueling a genocidal dictator. All the while, the U.S. is 43rd out of 180 nations under Columbia and Yale’s Environmental Protection Index (EPI). While we send military arsenal to fight foreign wars – while we continue to obey the roles we serve in being indifferent – we all make the world worse. 

Are we seriously alright with that? I can’t imagine that we’re just fine with supporting genocidal politicians, no matter what race, gender, shape or size they come in. 

Even if we remain in a position that makes us feel useless, the thing is, we’re still responsible for fighting the generational cycle that is trying to churn us out. Work to unravel this death spiral starts now, whether it’s education or bringing awareness to the problems at bay. 

Even just donating food to the 12th Can or talking to your friends about these issues is doing the work. We need to leave the “waiting for someone else,” or “waiting for the right time” behind this year. In the face of adversity,  “just do”. 

Let’s start taking on responsibility, regardless of how small our roles actually are and despite the self-doubt we’ve harbored over tumultuous times. Despite the uselessness we’ve been primed to feel, the only thing that matters is  “Will there even be a New Year to celebrate after this one?”

Life isn’t just a fictional, feel-good rendezvous, it’s all real and we need to run towards responsibility.  We must take it all in. 

We all have a hand in repairing the world, that’s a responsibility that everyone collectively shares. We must leave the world in a better shape than we found it – whatever that means to you, it means everything to someone else whose life you may change.

Sidney Uy is a philosophy sophomore and opinion writer for The Battalion.