Thursday
Apr032008
Making a difference
Thursday, April 3, 2008 at 10:30AM
I was talking to a new friend of mine over beer. and as with most alcohol-fueled conversations it lead to us seeking ways to solve all the worlds problems from the comfort of a bar in a first-world country. After I had dazzled her with my wide knowledge of world events (including the location of Namibia, which is here) she asked me why, if I knew about many different issues facing the world, I hadn't gotten involved in fixing them.
To be honest I hadn't given it much thought before that point, but I quickly came up with a response regarding the time and money constraints in my life, because who has the time these days to invest in volunteering or activism. At my job I frequently work 45 and 55 hour weeks. Not to mention the extra time spent worrying about work when I'm even there. I can't find another 10 hours a week to spend worrying about the Acha Tugi long-fingered frog.
There is also a likely financial commitment. Charities may rely on love and good will to improve things, but they don't run on it. Paying $1400 a month for a condo and $700 a month for a car doesn't leave a great deal for Project Peanut Butter. And where does the money go? When you have organizations like UNICEF losing charity status in Germany for misuse of funds, how can you be sure you aren't just wasting your money? Even watchdogs cannot be counted on to protect the good intentions of a noble public.
So I told her that I hadn't become involved for fear of wasting my time and money on something that is not going to benefit the people who really need it.
But that's not really the whole truth. These are really just excuses. Rationalizations to avoid to avoid directly confronting the fact that I'm aware I could make a difference, but fail to do so.
So why haven't I done anything? I guess it's really somewhat obvious. The problems seem distant and unrelated to my life. I've never known someone who died of AIDs, or seen whale get harpooned, or had a close family member die of Alzheimer's. None of these problems hit close enough to home to force me into taking action. Hell, there are even important events in my own life that I don't care enough about to focus on. I didn't care enough about my traffic court dates to even remember to show up, and failing to do so is likely to result in my car insurance increasing $30 a month for 3 years. That's by no means equivalent to water shortages in Africa, but it has a more direct and substantial effect on my life and I failed to give it even the most basic attention.
It seems that the key to staying focused on these issues is making them your passion, making them your hobby. Investigate things you think you may be interested in and take small steps towards becoming involved. Maybe after awhile you'll find that you have a new rewarding hobby which has the minor side benefit of improving the world.
At the end of this you'd expect me to state that I'm a changed person, and that I'm suddenly going to dedicate my life to ensuring the Acha Tugi long-fingered frog doesn't go extinct. I'd like to say that (I like frogs) but I've still got a ways to go before I've convinced myself that I can do this. But researching this and talking about it has at least opened me up to the possibility. And hopefully, a couple months from now, I can at least say that I'm better informed on the subject and will have become a more vocal advocate, if not an agent, for change.
To be honest I hadn't given it much thought before that point, but I quickly came up with a response regarding the time and money constraints in my life, because who has the time these days to invest in volunteering or activism. At my job I frequently work 45 and 55 hour weeks. Not to mention the extra time spent worrying about work when I'm even there. I can't find another 10 hours a week to spend worrying about the Acha Tugi long-fingered frog.
There is also a likely financial commitment. Charities may rely on love and good will to improve things, but they don't run on it. Paying $1400 a month for a condo and $700 a month for a car doesn't leave a great deal for Project Peanut Butter. And where does the money go? When you have organizations like UNICEF losing charity status in Germany for misuse of funds, how can you be sure you aren't just wasting your money? Even watchdogs cannot be counted on to protect the good intentions of a noble public.
So I told her that I hadn't become involved for fear of wasting my time and money on something that is not going to benefit the people who really need it.
But that's not really the whole truth. These are really just excuses. Rationalizations to avoid to avoid directly confronting the fact that I'm aware I could make a difference, but fail to do so.
So why haven't I done anything? I guess it's really somewhat obvious. The problems seem distant and unrelated to my life. I've never known someone who died of AIDs, or seen whale get harpooned, or had a close family member die of Alzheimer's. None of these problems hit close enough to home to force me into taking action. Hell, there are even important events in my own life that I don't care enough about to focus on. I didn't care enough about my traffic court dates to even remember to show up, and failing to do so is likely to result in my car insurance increasing $30 a month for 3 years. That's by no means equivalent to water shortages in Africa, but it has a more direct and substantial effect on my life and I failed to give it even the most basic attention.
It seems that the key to staying focused on these issues is making them your passion, making them your hobby. Investigate things you think you may be interested in and take small steps towards becoming involved. Maybe after awhile you'll find that you have a new rewarding hobby which has the minor side benefit of improving the world.
At the end of this you'd expect me to state that I'm a changed person, and that I'm suddenly going to dedicate my life to ensuring the Acha Tugi long-fingered frog doesn't go extinct. I'd like to say that (I like frogs) but I've still got a ways to go before I've convinced myself that I can do this. But researching this and talking about it has at least opened me up to the possibility. And hopefully, a couple months from now, I can at least say that I'm better informed on the subject and will have become a more vocal advocate, if not an agent, for change.
Reader Comments (1)
This friend sounds like a bit of a self-righteous pain in the as..., but she may be onto something. First of all, awareness is already a massive step forward. Taking the time to actually care and read about issues that don't immediately concern you is already an important move. One that doesn't interest many, for a variety of the reasons you listed. But you clearly are interested.
So, it just takes that moving the other foot. Cause once you've got awareness and action put together, that's when stuff starts to happen. It doesn't have to be a waterfall of change. Ripple effects of your actions/words impacting your close friends, and anyone around you, that's what makes lasting impacts. I'm sure there's some nature/biology blog posting about the key long-term impact of ripple effects on StumbleUpon that backs me up on that one..
Sometimes age old axioms say it best: Talk is cheap my friend.
While these new holier-than-thou friends of yours might judge you if you don't do anything, I think now that you've thought about this and actively recognized it, you'll be your own harshest judge. Talking, chatting, debating is one thing - but leave that to us Arts students who do it best. You're meant to do things. Engineers like yourself who like to build concrete things, who like empirical evidence, who can't stop till they solve the complex problem.... I'm sure will figure out the right solution to this new equation.