Priorities

Initially, the article we read for Friday’s class rubbed me a little bit in the wrong way. As I read through the article, my humanitarian "save the world" side kicked in. I was a little bit spiteful towards Bjorn’s opinion that we should prioritize all of our world’s most pressing issues. How can you tell me that the numerous deaths caused by malaria is a crisis that should be deemed less important when compared to worrying about securing free trade and a reduction of subsidies? At the time, it just didn’t add up. After I read the article, I retreated back to my room and made a to-do list for the next day. In my normal fashion, I arranged the list in descending order from most important to least important. After looking through the list again, I realized what I had just done - I had prioritized my life. I determined which tasks needed my immediate attention and which assignments I could put off for a little longer. It all started to soak in. Without prioritizing, I would get nowhere. I would end up doing the tasks I most enjoy, rather than the ones that demand the most time and dedication. I would leave the hardest tasks to do last and I would, basically, get nothing done. I was wrong about the article... I had been naive - there is no way that our world could possibly solve any of it’s problems without setting up a prioritized to-do list much like the one that was created from the Copenhagen Consensus. Mind you, just as was shown through the activity in Friday’s class (which was really fun and creative, by the way!), this list should remain flexible. As new problems arise and the variables of the old problems fluctuate, the list of priorities should reflect these changes. Moral of the story: Bjorn, his speech, and the Copenhagen Consensus are right on the money in matters of saving the world.