Social Issues That We Should Care About in 2024

Social issues are the problems or challenges that affect a large number of people in a society, such as poverty, inequality, discrimination, violence, health, education, environment, and human rights. Social issues can have various causes, effects, and solutions, often involving different perspectives, values, and interests. Social issues can also change over time, depending on the social, political, and economic context.

There are many social issues that you should care about in 2024, as they will affect your life and the lives of others in various ways. Some of the most important and urgent social issues that you should pay attention to are:

Climate change: Climate change is the long-term alteration of the Earth's climate system, caused by human activities that increase the concentration of greenhouse gases in the atmosphere. Climate change can have devastating impacts on the environment, such as rising sea levels, melting ice caps, extreme weather events, loss of biodiversity, and desertification. Climate change can also affect human health, food security, water availability, migration, conflict, and economic development.

Racial justice: Racial justice is the fair and equal treatment of all people, regardless of their race, ethnicity, or culture. Racial justice aims to eliminate racism, discrimination, and oppression, and to promote diversity, inclusion, and equity. Racial justice can be achieved through various means, such as education, legislation, activism, and dialogue. Racial justice is essential for human dignity, social harmony, and global peace.

Gender equality: Gender equality is having the same rights, opportunities, and responsibilities for all people, regardless of their gender identity or expression. Gender equality can be measured by various indicators, such as education, health, income, political participation, and representation. Gender equality can benefit individuals, families, communities, and societies, by enhancing human potential, reducing poverty, improving health, and fostering development.

Mental health: Mental health is the state of well-being in which a person can cope with the normal stresses of life, work productively, and contribute to their community. Mental health can be affected by various factors, such as genetics, environment, trauma, stress, and lifestyle. Mental health can also influence physical health, social relationships, and quality of life. Mental health can be improved by various means, such as prevention, treatment, support, and awareness.

Inclusivity for Persons with Disabilities: In a world that celebrates diversity, inclusivity for Persons with Disabilities (PWD) remains a critical issue that demands our attention and action. It's about recognizing the rights, abilities, and potential of the individual, regardless of their physical or mental challenges. Inclusivity means creating environments where PWD can participate fully in all aspects of life. It's about removing barriers and providing equal opportunities in education, employment, and social participation, as well as attitudes and policies that recognize the value of every person.

Product Review Blog or Product Blog

*image credit from career.com

    Do you know that blogging started as early as 1994? It was also known as an online diary wherein someone posted his daily activities, his thoughts, some photos with stories, etc. The first recorded blog, as most experts agree is from Justin Hall through his links.net. The word weblog was coined by Jorn Barger, then evolved to just simply blog by Peter Merholz.  But we are not going to discuss the history of blogging here and why vlogging now is quite popular than the previous. For some far south and east, the internet has just been starting for them with the sprouts of different social media sites. And believe me, other people are still alienated by different terms on the net as well, and mostly, it isn't their fault, but don't ask me why because it would be another issue.

    As my title hinted, it is to differentiate a Product Review blog from just a mere Product blog or vlog.

First, a blog is written content of anything in the form of an article in a conversational style, whereas, a vlog is in the form of a video. These two are done digitally through the help of the internet and some blogging sites.

    Product Blog or Vlog is usually done by the company, maybe its Sales and Promotion Department. Some companies hire endorsers or market influencers for their products or services. A Product Blog or Vlog is also a form of advertisement wherein the product features and benefits are highlighted to create awareness and interest in the product, resulting in an increase in sales. 

    Product Review Blog or Vlog usually aren't paid for and are usually done by consumer or customer who uses that product or service. The consumer or customer may either write a blog article or create a video to say or! show his/her satisfaction and/or dissatisfaction with the product or services. The blogger/vlogger enumerates the reason for satisfaction/dissatisfaction with the product. In some cases, the blogger or vlogger makes a stance on the benefits and features of the product against his/her experience with the product. It also helps to warn other consumers to try the product or services. However, there are cases that a certain company would initiate a review of their product by giving samples to a famous blogger/vlogger known for reviewing a specific type of product or service. It may or may not influence the outcome of the review, depending on the credibility of the blogger/vlogger.

    Product Blog/Vlog and Product Review Blog/Vlog both help create awareness about the product and promote it. Due to the emerging trends in social media and e-commerce, product vlogging is rather popular in promoting a product through product influencers who may or may not be using the product itself. There also goes the product affiliates wherein a vlogger, a celebrity, or a not-so-famous vlogger,  as long as they have followers from 1000 and above, they can endorse a product they may or may not be using. The main goal for blogging/vlogging a product and product affiliation is to earn. We will discuss later how a blogger/vlogger and an affiliate can earn money on our future blogs.

The Woman of Fire

** image credits to tenor.com/search/fire-woman-gifs

The fire element is a symbol of love, 
desire, anger, power, strength, and assertiveness.
She represents light, life, and energy.

 The woman of fire loves to connect with other people.
She is people-oriented and skilled in working with people.
She often participates in social gatherings.

Though she is vainglorious and often argues,
she is compassionate and caring.
She is enthusiastic and can uplift someone's day.

She is quick-minded, a risk-taker, and creative. 
that makes her an efficient leader.
She has an inventive mind.

In love, she is more passionate 
than any other element.
She always takes the initiative in relationships, 
making sure to let her partner knows that she cares.

An intuitive mind who can read people.

She cannot say no to a commitment
that causes her to neglect her personal needs.
She speaks her mind without apprehension,
yet, you cannot silence her

She is a doer of things which
makes her a great leader.

The woman of fire has a pace of her own.
She exudes confidence and 
leaves others in awe of her personality.

But just like wildfire, 
she sometimes spreads chaos.
And as the fire ignites and dies,
she won't stop until
she gets bored.

Her downside
leads her to anger, arrogance, and cruelty.
 is power without restraint.

The Woman of Air

**image credit to deviantart.com/tbond5289/art/Wind-Element-320408081

She is a fantastic conversationalist, 

a great communicator.

She soaks knowledge

 from everywhere she can 

as a result of her curious behavior.

She is deeply intrigued by people 

who can keep up with her

rapid mouth.

Her relationship can be

strained by her desire 

to win all arguments.

She is so deeply connected to her mind.

Prone to overthink, 

or dip into negative 

or paranoid vibes.

She is naturally analytical

and can pick apart 

a concept, project, or person

without too much effort.

She is witty, charming,  and thoughtful. 

She is flexible and carefree

but remains independent.

Her carefree attitude 

can sway over 

into the negative side of life

though soon becomes

 flaky, unreliable, 

inconsistent, and even selfish.

She has a high standard 

of principles and

does not tolerate injustice.

She abandons traditions

without a second thought.

She doesn't like to follow trends

and likes to discover 

and do things with her own sense 

of intuition and relevance.

The Woman of Water

**image credit to brandrificus.deviantart.com

The Woman of Water element...

she has a lot of depth in her,

probably much more 

than one has to let on. 

\She likes to remain hidden, 

enigmatic, and anonymous...

She is a smooth talker 

who can diverge 

from the topic of discussion 

with ease. 

Articulate, clever, and introspective, 

self-contained and self-sufficient

that's who she is...

She prefers peace and little conflict

but has no issue standing her ground

when she is wronged. 

She can sometimes lack self-confidence

and yet come across as assertive.

She loves to tease and insult 

She can use extremely mean words 

when angry.

She has deep emotional currents, 

some can't even be explained, 

many might be intuitive. 

Despite her strong empathy, 

she cannot judge people so quickly.

She is penetrating, critical, and scrutinizing,

seeking knowledge and understanding. 

She needs to learn

 that it is okay to say no. 

Her avoidance of problems 

leaves her in more trouble

 than when she deals with them. 

That aside, 

she is seen to be full of love 

and has wonderful energy. 

She can help people relax 

and bring them back 

to a healthy state 

from a toxic one.

The Earth Woman

**image credit: deviantart.com/fahrifortyone/art/EARTH-ELEMENT-169776615

She is of the Earth element...

hardworking, genuine, 

and determined.

She knows what needs to get done.

She knows how to get a good life,

and she needs to earn it...

She is practical and logical 
and she stands firm 

in her convictions...

She is not interested

 in unrealistic dreams 
but in setting achievable goals 

attained through hard work...

She learns from experience, 
which is never difficult
 for a curious person like herself...

She has a powerful heart 
and an appreciation 
for the smaller things...

She is an artist 
and loves to create...

She could stand to be a bit less rigid 
and take a breath once in a while...

If she keeps pushing forward without a rest, 
She'll come off as intimidating to others.

She is always friendly
 yet she does not let people 
into the inner circle easily...
However... once she does
 she is loyal to a fault...

That aside, 
She is sturdy and self-efficient
 and make a reliable ally...

She is what she is
..Earth...

The Injustice of Medusa

**image credit from Canva

 In Greek mythology, there is no canon law that one can say which version is the correct one. You can see many different versions for some smaller details. 

You might have heard of this famous character, Medusa. What is behind her terrifying face and gaze?

Her name means sovereign female wisdom. She was once a beautiful maiden, and her chief glory was her hair, and with that, she was adored by countless men from all walks of life. She was one of Athena's priestesses. Medusa was borne out of the love of Phorcys and Ceto, her parents. Their other children were Graiae and Ladon and her other two sisters, Stheno and Euryale. They were the monsters with brass hands, sharp fangs, and the hair of living venomous snakes. The two are the real Gorgons and they are immortal.

What happened on that night before Medusa became like her sisters was when Poseidon, the god of the sea, disrespected and ravished Medusa, and her femininity was destroyed. It happened in Athena’s temple, probably to annoy Athena since the two of them are not on good terms with each other, Athena discovered what happened and changed her form to match that of her sister, the Gorgons as punishment.  According to some versions, Athena was just trying to protect her, and she made her face hideous and snake-haired, so she can defend herself from men. Though Poseidon and Athena were not on good terms, Athena cannot punish Poseidon since they are equal. So, Athena deprived Medusa of her charms and changed her beautiful ringlets into hissing repugnant serpents.

Now there was a king who wanted his stepson to be out of his sight, King Polydectes of Seriphos. He sent the son of her wife, Perseus to behead Medusa in her sleep. A duty said to require Perseus of maximum heroic-male courage and skill. Athena and Hermes guided him, he was even bestowed a magnificent curved sword by Hermes;  a bright shield by Athena; winged shoes, the helmet of invisibility, and the magic wallet given to him by the Nymphs. With all these, Perseus was able to go near her with Athena’s bright shield, decapitate her with the curved sword, and put her head into the magic wallet. Her sisters chased after Perseus, but they cannot get their hands on him because he was wearing the helmet of invisibility. When her head was cut off, there sprang from her trunk, giving birth to Pegasus (the winged horse) and her bleeding neck sprang Chrysaor (the bladed giant). The fruits of her unraveling life.

Medusa even after her death upheld her Gorgon powers to protect herself from enemies…

When Perseus arrived in Seriphos, he used Medusa’s head to turn his enemies into stone. The rest of Medusa’s blood – a vial containing two drops – one was a cure-all, and the other a deadly poison. Medusa’s hair lock could still cast terror into any enemy unfortunate enough to even accidentally behold it.

Until now, Medusa is still depicted as someone to be afraid of. Yet, her story is an example of our present social situation… the injustice as she was the one being punished instead of the culprit. In most Asian countries this is still happening, and there are still those people with that victim-blaming syndrome. If someone’s body is disrespected, some people tend to blame the victim for wearing this or that kind of dress, for going out with men. In the first place, a dirty mind can do all that even if a victim is all dressed up or covered. What can you say about a baby, a man, or a grandma being disrespected? Does it have something to do with the way they dress? Does it have something to do with their going out with men?

Though the story is just a myth, definitely it is one of the most famous characters in Greek mythology. As we can see what she had was a form of injustice and unequal treatment by the gods and the goddess. Like in our present situation, the powerful, those with connections or those in government positions, and those who have a lot of money can revert back the story in favor of them. Even in the end, Medusa did not find the justice she deserved, nor was she given a chance to prove what was done to her. Sounds familiar isn’t it?... much like today, there are still unsolved cases of rape and murder, and injustice has been found. Whatever happens to the case of the Vizconde massacre? The people involved in the case?- find it out; and the case of a missing girl in Robinson's Palawan? then again, the people involved in the case. The mysterious killing of suspected drug pushers/users until now just reminds us that there are people behind it as some of these cases involve policemen who acted in the line of their duty, take the case of Kian Lloyd delos Santos (17), Carl Arnaiz (19), and Reynaldo de Guzman (14). 

In other countries, there are numerous cases of rape and missing persons as well. Sometimes a lax in investigation of the police causes it to prolong the justice to be served. Pieces of evidence are being cleaned up or tampered with, due to not following the SOP, and there also goes a cover-up among the police, family, and higher people involved in the case.