In ecology, an invasive species enters a new area and causes environmental harm.
In society, problems have a similar effect on our world. They aren’t stagnant. They are invading. Bias, stigma, lack of opportunity invade people and communities.
We tend to conceptualize problems as things that are waiting to be solved, rather than as forces that are multiplying and growing. Thinking of them as a momentous entity forces you to take action to reduce the invasion.
Just like an invasive species left unchecked will run wild in an ecosystem, a problem left unchecked will grow in power.
We must act and act quickly. Problems are invading and grow more influential by the day. Unless we intervene and change something, they will persist.