It's time to make a choice

A really funky house music song that I listen to has the lyrics “Make a choice, make it now, raise your voice, raise it loud”. Being the activist that I am, this song really speaks to me, because I believe that many small voices joined together can present a challenge to big societal problems, and that when many voices talk together and in unison it normally leads to action. I’ve worked with NGOs, for NGOs and around them, and I’m always amazed at the incredibly constructive and creative ways that people find to help others every day.

A couple of my friends and I have a semi-nerdy philosophical conversation group about once a month. In this group we discuss concepts/ideas/issues that we find challenging. One of the discussions we had was about whether or not wisdom comes with age, whether it is a relief or a burden to be wise etc etc (very existential, very much red wine … it happens). One of the guys in the group said that in his opinion wisdom came when you realised that you couldn’t do anything, that no matter what you did, or who you worked with, it was entirely improbable that you were going to make a sustained impact on the world (the audacity!). Between mouth-vomits I had the clarity of mind to breathe, and then challenge him on this statement. I said that I do feel like I can make an impact, whether as an individual or as part of a really constructive group. He said “well of course you do, all activists have an inflated sense of their own impact”. (I was mad … can you tell?)

So quietly simmering after abandoning reasoning with this guy, I started to think about it. I still disagree that we might not be able to make an impact. Of course we can. Small actions that we choose to do every day can make the lives of others more bearable if not more pleasant, prosperous and peaceful. So now my question is, why are we so complacent? It doesn’t take much to greet a person, to smile, to thank them, to give an hour of your time to charity (see really cool websites like The Greater Good if you don’t believe how easy it is) or to care.

So why are some of you out there not keen? I want to hear your logistical reasons for staying away from helping others. Is it because, like I think the guy in my conversation group was, you are afraid that you really might not make an impact? Would you do more if the impact positively reflected on you? Are you afraid of others — the dirty, the abused, the poor, the sick, the homeless? Do you suffer from the “so what?” syndrome (people are poor — so what? South African schools are passing learners who can’t read or write — so what? prisoners are being abused — so what? a woman is raped nearly every 15 seconds in SA — so what?)? There are so many issues to care about, I just really struggle to understand people who don’t care about any.

If you are one of those people, I want to hear from you now. It’s time to make a choice. A choice for positive change. A choice for change at all.