I have recently watched a very interesting true story movie: Freedom Writers, inspired by Erin Guewella’s teaching concept in room 203, long beach state school. My friends highly recommended me to watch it. At first, I thought it’s another tears and emotional exploitative movie for business purpose, but then I watched it. It made me think, when someone decides to do social works, be it civil rights movement, political movement, human rights movement, he/she mostly finds herself a lone fighter. I personally think that if we assess it in mathematical figure, that lone fighter’s work is as good as nothing in the end. The question is how much change he/she will bring if there is no resource supporting him/her. It s not that I have anything against people who have good intention to do social works, I just think in my environment (most environment in fact) my idealism of what is right will end up worthless to fight for because I am a student, with no financial resources, political power or policy power. I am fed up at one point in my life caring about the poor or rights abuse, be it due to bureaucratic procedure (identity card, where the Chinese have to pay a lot of money in the past, or registering a claim in a court, where you have to pay) or due to circumstances (poverty or racism). I cannot change it; I end up spending more energy than cultivating the result.
I guess the following analogy best represent my view. In mathematics discipline, we recognize the concept of “fitting in” (pembulatan). For example, 7.0001 will be fit in as 7. As a lone fighter, I always ended up generating 0.0001 in whatever idealism I am trying to uphold. It ends up fit in 7. It just doesn’t count.
Think about it carefully, how much change can we bring when are lone fighters. We need support from 10,000 more people to have it counted as 8. It is just damn difficult to do so in self-centered growing community. It is naïve to think a person is willing to dedicate his whole life solely for racist or poverty fight. He has a career to think of, probably sisters or brothers to support or family to support. He will end up doing a meager work and that will only be fit in into 7. Of course, there are cases when these fight work, but they are circumstantial. A 1 in 1 million probability. Take example of Martin Luther King, a civil right activist. I think he is lucky because the political environment was resentment to black enslavement. What I am saying is that enslavement is too cruel and too blatant to be tolerated. There was an atmosphere of resentment in many part of the world against apartheid policy, which eased his work and he did not work alone!! However, for issue in between a thin line of right or wrong such as helping the poor (how much money we should donate or the oil distribution system), we end up shouting in the street like one stupid activist!! Do people up there listen or even consider? We have to acquire the power to change to policy, but the ominous circle is always how to climb that politics social ladder?
In the end, I think what I am trying to say is do I big or don’t do it at all, most of you will end will disappointed just like me. It just doesn’t count!
Hey there, still with the same views as back then? 0.0001 is insignificant more so when you count it in a utilitarian context, but you left out the middle part. The by-product of the struggle is a mixed of self development, satisfaction and experience. I'd like to think as a progress of 0.0001 in the first attempt, 0.001 in the second and so on. In 10 iterations, you get to the magnitude whose effects are sufficiently large. I'd like to see you then, achieving your dreams whose initial effort incubates from the insignificant yet indispensable 0.0001. Good luck.
ReplyDeleteOps, I rambled too much. Nice to see you la.
-Victor
you wont enjoy the 1 or the 10. it takes more than your life time to reach 1 from 0.00001. that if people care what you said. Compassion and kindness have expiry date. People's care and attention have limit. If 0.00001 will evolve to 0.001 and stuck at that point for too long. In "accountancy", we call it end year, it will be fit in 0. It will never count!
ReplyDeleteYou have your point. But sense of satisfaction needn't be based solely from the scale of influence or impact we see from our efforts. The "enjoyment" could too be derived from witnessing the occasional gratitude of those whose we helped. In other words, contentment at lower levels, perhaps, is also a worthy reward.
ReplyDeletein Math it will still count as 7.000001. In your case, you choose to omit the 0.000001 and choose to fit in the result to simplify matters, for instance. But till the end of time 7.000001 will still be 7.000001.
ReplyDeleteyour 0.000001 effort will still count and still pile up until reach the 0.999999th and eventually reach number 8, statistically speaking.
If you say that "compassion and kindness have expiry date" then the French Revolution would not have happened, then the Universal Declaration of Human Rights would have never been born at the first place.
Those compassion would still pile up in a form of writings (even this writing would still count as a piling up), thoughts, and even small conversations. The only thing to complete it is time.
If we take your example of Martin Luther King Jr, it applies analogically to your problem. At the very first time, being black equals to slave but it keeps evolving until where it reaches the time of Martin Luther King Jr and the speech 'I have a dream' was stated. The bottom line here is clear, the only thing we need is time or specifically speaking 'momentum'
Even it is you are the one who think that it still 7.000001 because you think you are the only one who put the concern about it. But in fact, a lot of people have thought about it and even already taken actions further. They await the right 'momentum' to take their actions into higher level and would take it into the peak level of the compassion we all want.
Last, even it takes more than my life to reach 1 from 0.000001, my 0.000001 effort would still pile up and somebody else would take my place and continue my effort.
I note your points (both of you). First, utilitarian concept, process, personal satisfaction. Second, I did contest to the virtue and the good intention of social workers.
ReplyDeleteHowever, my concern is simple, how many African children eats today? How many African children drink decent fresh water today? It is absolutely not enough to aspire your sympathy yet, our good intention and sympathy doesnt feed any of their famine stomach. It is absolutely not enough to try to be kind (in most cases these social workers ended doing nothing) because we need power and money to feed those children in Africa, espcially political access.
never really got time to comment this one, Jo.
ReplyDeleteColonel Stauffenberg, General Olbricht, Wolf-Heinrich von Helldrof, Erich Fellgiesel, dr. Carl Goerdeler, Erwin von Witzleben, Friedrich Fromm, and the others who involved in July 20 Plot attempt, which was the last of 15 known attempts by Germans to assassinate Adolf Hitler, were all executed. Their plan failed, Hitler survived. Were they “fit in?”
nine months later, with Berlin surrounded, Hitler committed suicide
tell me empirically, why did hitler commit suicide? anything to do with the besieging?
ReplyDeletenervous breakdown, during one of his military situation since he admitted defeat was imminent, and Germany would lose the war. He expressed his intent to kill himself and later asked physician Werner Haase to recommend a reliable method of suicide. Haase suggested combining a dose of cyanide with a gunshot to the head.
ReplyDeletefurther reference:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Death_of_Adolf_Hitler
not responding to my question. show me the correlation (causal relations) between the besieging and the suicide? is it the only or the primary factor? Or is it a small part of the aggregate causes of his suicide?
ReplyDeleteIs it not true there are some other major events which caused his nervous breakdown?