Jonathan H's Blog
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My Selfish Attempts To Be Of Use
- Posted on 06.30.09
I wonder what other people think when they're driving and notice a bumper sticker on the back of someone's car with the oft-repeated Gandhi quote "Be the change you wish to see in the world." Apparently, being the change means slapping a bumper sticker on your car, or turning your Twitter avatar green, or clicking a button online so that someone else can give rice to someone who's hungry. My consistently critical mind thinks, "There you go, you've done your part" (said with a torrential downpour of liquid sarcasm).
At least the schmuck driving the Hummer to Arby's every morning admits he doesn't give a shit. If someone tried to put the Gandhi bumper sticker on his car, it would immediately burst into flames.
I'm somewhere in the middle. I give a shit about everything, and as the Managing Editor of Causecast, I'm privy to a whole Internet full of depressing news. Twenty-five thousand kids die every day in the world for whatever reason, 50 million Americans can't go to the doctor, and the food we all eat is produced through an assembly line process so shameful we might as well be eating Soylent Green.
And yet, I'm not standing on every street corner, screaming at passing hybrids about how they're not doing enough. I'm writing and posting articles, several of them every day, about these issues. Most of them get read quite a bit, but the world doesn't change, and how could it?
There will always be problems. Kids will always be starving, people will always be misdiagnosed and not given correct treatment, there will always be wars and suicides and famines and sex slaves. As humans, we've proved that we're pretty lousy about taking care of each other.
So, why try? Because we all, selfishly, want to feel like we're not idling, that we're doing more than almost anyone else can to help others. The happiest people out there have seen some of the most distressing things. But, they've taken those horrors of the world and turned them into small positives. Blake Mycoskie has put shoes on the feet of thousands of kids who wouldn't have had them. Jason Russell and Bobby Bailey and Laren Poole have brought hope and purpose to thousands of young people. Errol Morris used the power of film to get an innocent man off death row.
Small things can change, and if I can take an issue and make a small dent in it, would the praise be enough to improve my outlook? Would I then be able to ignore the minor problems in my life and the major ones around the world? Would I feel as if I've done my part? We at Causecast may be the most selfish ones of all. We want to feel that feeling that few ever get more than a few times in their lives. To have someone look at us with gratitude. To feel valued and cherished. To know that we've been of use.
http://twitter.com/jdbranded/status/2413170167
Related causes: Human Rights, Leaders
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