How Far Are We From a Better Life?

Liu Zhiyu

【Abstract】 Some people hold the belief that we can have a bright and better future life now. However， there are still some inevitable problems that we have to solve. This article argues why we cant easily have a better life in recent years and points out problems in our society from many aspects.

【Keywords】better future;? environmental pollution;? conflicts;? humanity

【中圖分類號】G642 【文獻標識碼】A 【文章編號】2095-3089（2020）14-0111-02

Some people always claim positively that we human beings will have a bright and better future. A famous Chinese Philosopher， Liang Shuming， is one of them. From his point of view， the world is getting better every day. However， others hold the very opposite view. There are many lurking problems in the world， and whether well have a better future is still a mystery. It is true that we are on our way to a better future， because the economy develops， the living conditions of people have been improved. Various achievements also contribute to a better life. From my perspective， in recent years， it is better to say such “better life” is a dream than a promise. It will become an unrealistic dream， if we make no efforts， in the future.

There is no doubt that our world is facing with many severe problems. Frist of all， the problem of environmental pollution is threatening. Its inevitable when mankind is trying to change the world， for example， deforestation. In order to develop agriculture， humans cut down trees and turn forests into farmlands. Later on， sandstorm has become a threat. It seems that the severe sandstorm happened in Northern China a few years ago just happened yesterday， which largely polluted the air and caused diseases.

Another kind of pollution is water pollution. Factories built near the river are accustomed to pouring polluted waste water into the river. As a result， wildlife in the rivers is gone. Whats more， lights and noise pollution is also troubling people every day. These are two kinds of typical man？鄄made pollution especially in modern cities， which will do harm to both physical and mental health.

Do you think environmental pollution is all that we have to deal with？ No. We are also living under the shadow of terrorism and war. Think about Iraq and the Middle East. People there are suffering from warfare： People die every day. There is no food， no shelter， no hope. In my opinion， war is nothing but a man？鄄made disaster. The only things those more powerful countries can get from invade other countries are just natural resources， with the cost of bleeding and killing innocent people.

These are reasons that I think is preventing the world from being better， but these are not all the reasons. In addition， the loss of humanity is much more danger. When I was a little girl， my mother taught me to be kind to everyone. However， there are many frightening cases that keep me away from being a warm？鄄hearted person. It suddenly occurs to me a piece of horrifying news that I had once read before： A pregnant woman pretended to feel uncomfortable and asked a 17？鄄year？鄄old girl to send her home. The warm？鄄hearted girl helped the pregnant woman. It seemed like a lovely story， but it was not. After arriving at home， the woman and her husband killed the poor young girl. A life was gone because of kindness！ Such kind of news is not rare cases. It is a depressing phenomenon： Our world will be no longer full of love and peace like it was before.

To sum up， I personally disagree of the view that our world is getting better every day. It is not so easy to achieve a “better future” today. However， we can take actions from now on to change this situation. New policies about protecting the environment are needed. Governments can also try to reduce pollution in technological ways. As to citizens， we should try to be kind to others. We have to work together to create a harmonious society， otherwise the dream of better future will always be an untouchable dream.

作者簡介：

劉芝鈺（1999年3月—），女，江蘇蘇州人，本科在讀，蘇州大學外國語學院英語師范專業學生。