If Not Now – Then When?

Here is a question for anyone who will listen: if not now – then when?  Millions of people die every year from preventable and treatable diseases.  Millions of people will die from the three epidemics of HIV/AIDS, malaria, and tuberculosis.  Millions upon millions live in extreme poverty that limits their education, health, and opportunities for success.  Everybody knows all of these things.  Yet the question remains: If not now – then when?

If not now – then when?

It’s a simple question, and you might assume that it has an obvious answer.  But it is worth taking a deeper look – because it is more than just a question, it is a state of mind.

If not now – then when?  The state of mind that we have right now is one of semi-apathy and non-urgency.  Our current mindset definitely doesn’t want to wait forever to solve these desperate social issues, but neither do we act in such a way that we intensely want to end these problems now.

Yet we need to have a more urgent and intense state of mind about these issues.  For history has shown us through social issues that have ended (apartheid, civil rights in America, etc.) and social issues that have not ended (HIV/AIDS, human trafficking, etc.) that the mindset is the most important thing.  Either we demand that these problems end now … or they will not end.  It’s that simple.

So the answer to the question is this: If not now – then never.

How can you begin to change your state of mind?