It’s time for the sixth installment of 27 Pedestrians, and this time we asked young Aussies about things that just suck. More specifically, we asked: if they could disinvent one thing in the world today, what would it be?
There’s a long list of things that need to go. Everything from Crocs and sporks, right up to the big stuff like guns and discrimination.
But to pick just one proved a little tricky.
“I want to say capitalism, patriarchy, the military-industrial complex, but I think it would actually be filters on Instagram and Facebook,” Cloudy Lilai, 24, said.
Meanwhile, Emma Skalicky, 25, was torn between fascism and the Beep Test. Both are worthy contenders.
Others found it a bit easier, like Ian Lizardo, 27, who reckons his 2007 MySpace account is the one thing that needs to go.
“I found it the other day and it was horrific, the photos were shocking,” he said.
“I’m pretty sure the username was something offensive so I was just like, ‘not OK’, not very 2020 on my part.”
But it was plastic which dominated everyone’s answers. Four people ended up ranting about how wasteful and damaging to the environment it is.
The coronavirus also influenced a bunch of people’s answers, as if we needed another facet of our lives controlled by the damn disease.
“I’ve just been thinking about the COVIDSafe app and how useless it’s been,” Sue Kang, 26, said.
After months of functionality problems and unaddressed privacy concerns, the app’s been used to identify… a handful of people who tested positive. Not a great innings for an app which cost $2 million to develop.
For Albert Santos, 29, the whole question poses a dangerous metaphysical conundrum that might not even be worth entering into in the first place.
“When it comes to disinventing anything, I’ve always been of the opinion that everything exists for a reason,” he said.
He explained that just like going back in time to murder baby Hitler, “it sounds good in theory but in practise it might create a power vacuum.”
Yet even with all this in mind, Albert’s willing to risk it all to rid the world of MLMs (multi-level marketing schemes).
A noble cause, indeed.
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