Rosetta, very great insight on our pursuit of the truth- and its something that I think everyone a part of or once a part of nonprofits/ activism/ social justice/ whatever you may call it, looks deep within themselves and questions at least once.
I still have one year left at the University of California, Santa Barbara, and I found myself asking myself the same question over and over this year. Have I lost my college idealism before I’ve even gotten out of college? In short, yes. But it’s not as bad as it sounds
I just came back from spending a year studying rural development in New Delhi, India, and it was an experience that certainly transformed me. In California, I was involved in all sorts of movements and causes, from running an environmentally friendly interactive community based festival, to working in movements to impeach bush, ect ect… My head was filled with idealism, motivation, drive to change things through grassroots, protests, getting voices heard.
But upon my return, I have found myself unable to understand the point. Not only have I realized how inefficient some nonprofits can be, and how many organizations of do-gooders can sometimes just be a group of people with good intentions but without the drive to see things through, but I have also seen things that just a few voices of dissent can’t change.
There are two roles that I feel need to be filled to create social transformation and change:
The first is the idealist, filled with that zeal and “college idealism”. Their role is to go out, street to street, door to door, meeting to meeting, G8 summit to UN conference , and bring attention to what’s happening. They grab the spotlight of the media by their sit-ins, protests, demonstrations. They create an awareness, and set the wheels in motion for change. They rub against mainstream society to show their dissent.
Then you have the (practicalist?). This is, I believe, is what many become. It’s the idealist when they put on a business suite, and work with the rest of society to actually make something happen. Yes, some loose their ideals, and some go into a corporate world- some need to pay their bills I guess you could say. But some choose to make a difference by working within the rest of society, working with the government, moving into venture philanthropy, social enterprises, or other businesses that are working to change things.
This is where I stand. I cannot stand in a protest these days, because I look at how so many people are championing their own causes when its supposed to be united for one thing. I notice how many people have no idea why they’re standing there. It’s still effective, but for me it does nothing. I feel my role, now, is to use what I know, what I’ve learned, to make a change by working within the system, or by working through more formal means to achieve my goal. I’m looking into working with groups like WRI, or many research institutes in India, developing methods to help poverty reduction through innovation.
While I guess I could say I’ve lost that college idealism, I say I’ve moved on to the bigger picture. I’ve got a different role to fill now. Thats just me though.
COMMENTS
BY Jon
ON July 9, 2008 11:06 AM
Rosetta, very great insight on our pursuit of the truth- and its something that I think everyone a part of or once a part of nonprofits/ activism/ social justice/ whatever you may call it, looks deep within themselves and questions at least once.
I still have one year left at the University of California, Santa Barbara, and I found myself asking myself the same question over and over this year. Have I lost my college idealism before I’ve even gotten out of college? In short, yes. But it’s not as bad as it sounds
I just came back from spending a year studying rural development in New Delhi, India, and it was an experience that certainly transformed me. In California, I was involved in all sorts of movements and causes, from running an environmentally friendly interactive community based festival, to working in movements to impeach bush, ect ect… My head was filled with idealism, motivation, drive to change things through grassroots, protests, getting voices heard.
But upon my return, I have found myself unable to understand the point. Not only have I realized how inefficient some nonprofits can be, and how many organizations of do-gooders can sometimes just be a group of people with good intentions but without the drive to see things through, but I have also seen things that just a few voices of dissent can’t change.
There are two roles that I feel need to be filled to create social transformation and change:
The first is the idealist, filled with that zeal and “college idealism”. Their role is to go out, street to street, door to door, meeting to meeting, G8 summit to UN conference , and bring attention to what’s happening. They grab the spotlight of the media by their sit-ins, protests, demonstrations. They create an awareness, and set the wheels in motion for change. They rub against mainstream society to show their dissent.
Then you have the (practicalist?). This is, I believe, is what many become. It’s the idealist when they put on a business suite, and work with the rest of society to actually make something happen. Yes, some loose their ideals, and some go into a corporate world- some need to pay their bills I guess you could say. But some choose to make a difference by working within the rest of society, working with the government, moving into venture philanthropy, social enterprises, or other businesses that are working to change things.
This is where I stand. I cannot stand in a protest these days, because I look at how so many people are championing their own causes when its supposed to be united for one thing. I notice how many people have no idea why they’re standing there. It’s still effective, but for me it does nothing. I feel my role, now, is to use what I know, what I’ve learned, to make a change by working within the system, or by working through more formal means to achieve my goal. I’m looking into working with groups like WRI, or many research institutes in India, developing methods to help poverty reduction through innovation.
While I guess I could say I’ve lost that college idealism, I say I’ve moved on to the bigger picture. I’ve got a different role to fill now. Thats just me though.