In Vox, some thoughts on whether change-the-system thinking has derailed us from basic kindness, helpfulness, and self-sacrifice. (e.g. Why should I buy socks or bus passes for homeless people when it won’t solve homelessness?) I need to look at myself in this regard.
@JohnBrady I know this is true where I’m at. Nobody wants to help at the mission. Too “busy” voting and doing Instagram “political activism.”
@JohnBrady “For many Americans, political opinions are a substitute for personal checks.” For sure. It’s a real problem for me: I’m naturally “in my head” and I have to regularly remind myself that thinking about something is not doing something.
@mineinmono @JohnBrady For all the real ills of social media, this post got at least a couple of people to sign up for things.
@JohnBrady I don't know which way the causality runs—I wonder if people don't gravitate to change-the-system thinking specifically to avoid having to deal with real people and their problems. (Or, rather, I don't wonder. I know perfectly well that is why I have gravitated to that kind of thinking in the past.) I expect it's cyclical. Either way, I agree the one tends to drive out the other.
@jabel Yes, I'm there too. It's possible to think things out so completely that you really do forget you haven't actually done jack diddly!
@JohnBrady An interesting bit I see in that article is equating collective action with systemic action. Though I appreciate and strongly endorse the importance of individual action, I think the author/article is a bit simplistic in how it approaches the discussion of what individual action is and/or how it equates to collective action. When I act as an individual I do so knowing that I'm not alone in that action. I am never just an individual. I am, at birth, born into the family of humanity. From the moment of birth our survival and wellbeing is tied to those around us. In much of the world this collective identity is still central to daily life. It would seem that in the wealthier nations of the "Global North" we have forgotten it.
Years ago, in the 1990s I volunteered and then worked at our local adult literacy agency in Memphis and really came to appreciate the "slogan" of one of the national literacy organizations: "Each one teach one". A simple notion really. If we all take action our individual action adds up. And it showed in our local agency as people, both students that needed to learn to read as well as volunteers, came in as individuals. But what a beautiful place it was to be. At any given moment the place was full of people learning and teaching, all individuals that added up to a collective. Here one could see with their own eyes that individual action adds up to collective action.
Describing any action as individual action makes the mistake of forgetting that we are never individuals. Which perhaps speaks to a larger problem of the culture of capitalism and beyond the scope of this reply!
@JohnBrady I love this article. Thanks for posting this. Doing something real, to encounter and address real people and their real, immediate problems, is perhaps the most profound and rewarding interaction. It is also frequently awkward feeling and difficult. No reason not to do it anyway.
