This is one of the weirdest times in history. The 2016 nominees for President of the United States are Donald Trump and Hillary Clinton. Normally, the majority citizens in other countries find it difficult to name the candidates, especially before November, which is the month of the actual vote. However, nearly every adult throughout different areas of the world is aware of this race. This overall time period is going to make textbooks throughout the world, and the underlying reason behind that is simple: the world wants a change.

Before Washington DC voted in their primary, there were two Democratic candidates, meaning three major people overall. Bernie Sanders is a 74 year old democratic-socialist, who was the most popular choice for voters under the age of 25. Donald Trump is a businessman with no political experience and a history of failed business investments, whose supporters fully trust him to run the whole country. Hillary Clinton, who has been working in the government and White House for many years, and has been involved in many scandals, has supporters whose main argument is that she is new and trustworthy. These situations all seem hypocritical, or at the least abnormal. That is because the general public is calling for something drastic.

In history, even in the past few years, people worldwide have been trying to change the world. Most actions, however, have had a minimal impact. That is why so many individual actors, from citizens to countries, have been taking such radical positions. The world has only gotten better for the wealthy. People who have significant power or many connections are those who are able to do well in today’s world. Those with less privilege are finding it harder and harder to be successful in the modern times. College tuition is increasing exponentially. Housing prices are skyrocketing. Start-up businesses are being funneled to the bottom of internet searches, crushed by giant cooperations. People who are middle or lower classes, the far majority of people across the world, are trying to take a stand against the social norms which prohibit them from currently reaching their full potential.

Just scouring the main news headlines displays an increase in desperation. Times are beginning to seem more and more dire. Most people want a change. There is much violence across the world, from the war in Syria to terrorism in the Middle East. Migration worldwide led to countless young children dying on long journeys across land and sea, when they were not accepted by countries who were afraid of the violent acts which led to these would-be immigrants in the first place. Britain used this as a main argument to leave the European Union, an act not only disturbing the global economy, but the culture of the continent itself.

Xenophobia, or the fear of foreigners, cannot be truly blamed for all of this, as the media is claiming. Because the fair majority people are not afraid of other ethnicities and races. Most of the world is better than that. Only the people disturbing the peace share this trait. The true reason is a fear of stagnation. The people currently in control are afraid of change and new people entering countries, for that would disturb their benefits in the status quo. Everybody else, however, yearns for this change, and is afraid not of immigration and social movements, but that nothing will happen at all. People now believe that the only way to impact the world is to do the unexpected - elect people who do not conform to general guidelines, leave unions which have shown so much stability in that past, commit true acts of horrific terror to show viewpoints which would have otherwise been ignored.

None of these acts seem beneficial. An egotistical businessman, a foolish politician, and a brutal murderer have no place in any culture. But they do show something. They show that the world is in chaos, and this unrest is leaving openings for actions which would otherwise be impossible. Those who encompass the most of society want their voices to show that. People need a say, and humankind needs to work as a whole to allow that. Until those ruling the world that we all live in are weakened, until it is widely accepted that everybody is equally powerful, and until enough happens to change the current systems, nothing will happen.

If people do not take these severe actions, the situation will continue to escalate in urgency, and mankind will be cursed to remain in the same cycle, in the same world, for the rest of time.