Effect & Affect

Effect: noun, something that is produced by an agency or cause; result; consequence

Affect: verb (used with object), to act on; produce an effect or change in

Lately it seems that everyone is focused on effects. The effects of events on the economy, the effects of drugs or violence on our children, the effects of gas emissions on the environment.

But where is the talk about affecting these things? Rather than complain that everything is getting worse, why not talk about planning ways to affect them for the better? It has always bothered me that people leave the cities because they're 'getting worse' but no one stays to make them better. If these are things we really care about, shouldn't we be doing something about them?

The best way to start making a beneficial chain reaction is to start affecting human beings. Then, not only will we affect a change ourselves, but we can teach someone else to do the same. Even if we just affect one person a year, teaching them to affect one person a year in the same way, each year the number will grow astronomically. A true chain reaction.