The longer we live in this world, we don't realize the impact that our actions and non-actions make. It is basically the attitude of each individual that leads us into the betterment or disaster of our society. Education, gender, religion, ethnic background, economic status, sexual preferment it's merely a fact. A fact, that in certain circumstances we pay far too much attention to. This blinds us from what really is important. Cynicism is our friend and foe today, not other human beings whose color, education, or economic status prevents us from caring for them and vice versa. It is usually seen now a days that caring is abnormal, that individual autonomy is far more important. Cynicism convinces us that there's no point in getting involved, that every person is for sale, that all our motives are debased. We have generalized all the betrayals and failures into thinking that there is no hope. When we try to understand how we got to such tragic assumptions, we only need to look at ourselves and realize that we have become realists, who accept any situation without ever thinking it it's moral, if it's right.
Back then, being a cynic meant to stand up for one's convictions; however, throughout the years we have changed its meaning and now its commonly seen as a negative attitude towards something good. How cynical is that? The fact that we have migrated to such terms where our feelings, opinions don't count anymore it's tragically. This idea is affecting our families, friends, us. How can we believe in something that many others forcefully try to deny? Are we wrong, or simply blind? Should we follow up or make our own path? This is a basic question that we must ask ourselves every day. If we really want to see a change, we must be the change we want to see.
Great blog Alicia! I love how you back up and look at the sources of cynicism.
ReplyDeleteUs in SLICE, we realize there are problems, and we put our time and energy to help in the restoration of our society. That's why we have worked with Bob, with Andrew. These people personify the conviction of SLICE to get involved, even if it isn't the popular thing to do.
Bob has not made many development friends or lumberjack friends, but he is still, for over 25 years, being the change he wantz to see. He is making great progress too!
People like Bob are exactly who Loeb was talking about, a real world catalyst that our team has actually met!
Excellent blog. I really liked the begining about the impacts of our actions, or more importantly our non-actions. Too often we remember a failed attempt than the attempt never taken. It's important that we all remember that the actions we don't take are probably more important than the ones we do. We can all do little things throughout the day, pick up a piece of trash, call a friend just to say hi, or smile at a stranger. It's little things that we constantly do that may not make the most difference, but help remind us that we can always be doing something.
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