Monthly TOEFL essay #2: The 21st century has begun. What changes do you think this new century will bring? Use examples and details in your answer.

           Once, wars reigned on the lands of Asia and Europe through the bloody cries of civil population. Once, Martin Luther King Jr. stood on the ground of Lincoln Memorial and carried out the words of freedom and equality. Once, humanity reached a consensus upon the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. Now, the new century has begun. It has brought us with inconceivable advances in technology accompanied by globalization. Great affluence came in, replenishing our infinite desires for a better quality of life. But in my opinion, this century will be an era of equality rather than of further economic development.

         Rights of LGBT will be greatly enhanced in the 21^st century. LGBT, standing for lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender, has stood on the social minority for most of human history. For example, the dominating religion in the Middle Ages, Christianity condemned homosexuality as a sin, and homosexuals were considered as equivalent to infidels. In the 20^th century, however, some influential figures like singer Elton John openly confessed their homosexuality and was followed a worldwide scramble for LGBT rights. The rights of LGBT have now grown as one of the major contemporary issues. Controversy over gay marriage is a first step in this. While some religion groups are still against the expansion of the definition of marriage, many countries in Europe including Denmark and many states in the U.S. are allowing gay marriage. As more people are willing to openly orient their sexuality and fighting for the social atmosphere to change, hostility against LGBT will gradually diminish and further rights will be prepared.

Scramble for 'Equal Love' 

computer for the blind

           The physically disabled will be substituted with technological developments to reach closer to equality. Currently, technologies involved in smart phones are used by companies to create a computer for the blind. While this case is only a small contribution in the overall enhancement of the quality of life for the disabled, this shows that technologies may help the disabled in carrying out various works they hadn't been able to do before. This will help them in widening their scope of careers, enhancing their competency compared to workers without disability. Similar levels of achievement in both groups will lead to improvement in the status of the disabled among social members. The position of the disabled in the society will elevate.           

           Equality will be attained throughout the 21^st century as a result of changes in technology and conception. While it is only natural that the human race progresses towards an egalitarian society, 20^th century has shown a retreat in this through dreadful incidents, one of them namely the Holocaust. Having established a relatively peaceful world, people of the 21^st century will now focus on repairing the nightmares and taking further steps in the preservation of human dignity.