As a former professional do-gooder, I can relate to a lot of what you said about passion, hyperbole, apathy, and cynicism. I need to run now, but maybe later I'll post a cynical and un-politically correct little essay on professional do-gooders - at some point, people who wreak their livelihoods from solving the world's crises have a self-sustaining need to have there continue to be crises, and if they solve one problem they can't hang back onto their laurels - they have to speed onto the next. Think about professional feminists, for instance, and how those of the Western ilk relate to their sisters in the rest of the world - talking to women who need water rights and education about their need for orgasms and sharing the housework equally with men and by the way why are you wearing that stupid veil, don't you know you are oppressed?
I can prescribe two solutions to the creeping despair. 1) Read Mark Helprin's Winter's Tale. It's a beautiful book and it will cheer you up and make you feel like things are possible.
2) Check out http://www.witness.org. They market for help by sharing their successes. They get video cameras and training into the hands of those who want to document human rights abuses, and then they help the activitsts use the footage to create change- public awareness, legal documentation, accountability. They don't say "Help us, or these horrible things will continue and it will be all your fault you lazy git." They say "Look what we did with this simple thing - a $500 camera and some training - now people are being brought to justice and people are making a difference in their countries." I love them and will probably end up working for them someday in some capacity.
no subject
As a former professional do-gooder, I can relate to a lot of what you said about passion, hyperbole, apathy, and cynicism. I need to run now, but maybe later I'll post a cynical and un-politically correct little essay on professional do-gooders - at some point, people who wreak their livelihoods from solving the world's crises have a self-sustaining need to have there continue to be crises, and if they solve one problem they can't hang back onto their laurels - they have to speed onto the next. Think about professional feminists, for instance, and how those of the Western ilk relate to their sisters in the rest of the world - talking to women who need water rights and education about their need for orgasms and sharing the housework equally with men and by the way why are you wearing that stupid veil, don't you know you are oppressed?
I can prescribe two solutions to the creeping despair. 1) Read Mark Helprin's Winter's Tale. It's a beautiful book and it will cheer you up and make you feel like things are possible.
2) Check out http://www.witness.org. They market for help by sharing their successes. They get video cameras and training into the hands of those who want to document human rights abuses, and then they help the activitsts use the footage to create change- public awareness, legal documentation, accountability. They don't say "Help us, or these horrible things will continue and it will be all your fault you lazy git." They say "Look what we did with this simple thing - a $500 camera and some training - now people are being brought to justice and people are making a difference in their countries." I love them and will probably end up working for them someday in some capacity.
Peace.