Our Legacy for Future Generations

Our Legacy for Future Generations

A legacy is something that one generation inherits from the previous generation.  A legacy can be concrete or abstract.  A concrete legacy can be a physical object or a technology, while an abstract legacy may be a concept or an idea. Some legacies can become a springboard for the next generation to build on and pass on to future generations, while others may be rejected and lead to new legacies for the following generation. 

There are many examples of abstract legacies that are built on or expanded and others that are not maintained, and even rejected, by future generations.  Recycling is an example of a legacy that has been successfully implemented and developed. The concept of recycling was established in the 1970s with recycling of plastic and cans. Now people have expanded on that idea and have recently started to recycle food by composting, which reduces waste and benefits agriculture. The concept has grown by understanding that building a sustainable environment requires that we have to watch what we do with our waste. An example of a legacy that has not been maintained is the neglecting of ideas that the increasing use of cars results in a rise of carbon emissions that cause global warming. Some people do not pay a lot of attention to that because they prefer their comfort over the the environment.

In the last decades, there were significant improvements in people’s lives due to the advancement of technology, and this will be a concrete legacy for the next generation.  Some of these technologies are difficult to predict, such as the innovation of nanotechnology in the medical field. Nowadays, cancers have to be treated by using chemotherapy and radiation.  However, these types of treatments have severe side effects on the patients’ body. Scientists have now discovered nanotechnology methods to treat cancers without using chemotherapy, whereby small machines will be put into the patient’s veins to fight the cancers cells.  This treatment has not been applied yet, and this is an example of a legacy that our generation would pass on to the next generation. 

Some abstract legacies can be can be cultural in nature as well. In particular, women driving cars in Saudi Arabia has become a controversial subject recently. Women are not allowed to drive cars because the rules of their culture do not allow them to do so. Most women of the new generation would like to drive, but the majority of people do not accept this idea. If the groups can gather enough support to make it allowable, this will be a legacy for the next generation.

 To finalize, legacies can take on many forms and can have varying impacts on the generations that follow. Some legacies that our generation will leave for the future generation include nanotechnology, food composting, and changing of cultural customs.

Mazionah and Alrayan