THIS IS HOW WE CAN CHANGE THE WORLD

Saul Alinsky: genuis, humanitarian, man of action

We do have the power to make the world a better place.

Over the years, I've told numerous people that, despite all the very serious ills we are faced with, I'm certain we can change the world. Why? Because I believe the good in us can, and will, win out. If I didn't believe this I would not be writing this now since I don't believe in throwing away my time. I'd fiddle while Rome burned and make sure it was a damn fun tune.

But I do believe in us and hopefully you do too. Whatever your thoughts, I invite you to read the following passage by the wonderful scholar and humanitarian Saul Alinsky (1909-1972). His turns of phrase far surpass anything I can offer.

"And yet with all this there is that wondrous quality of man that from time to time floods over the natural dams of survival and self-interest. We witnessed it in the summer of 1964 when white college students risked their lives to carry the torch of human freedom into darkest Mississippi. An earlier instance: George Orwell describes his self-interest in entering the trenches during the Spanish Civil War as a matter of trying to stop the spreading horror of fascism. Yet once he was in the trenches, his self-interest changed to the goal of getting out alive. Still, I have no question that if Orwell had been given a military assignment from which he could easily have got lost, he would not have wandered to the rear at the price of jeopardizing the lives of some of his comrades; he would never have pursued his "self-interest." These are the exceptions to the rule, but there have been enough of them flashing through the murky past of history to suggest that these episodic transfigurations of the human spirit are more than the flash of fireflies."

We all need to find the Alinsky and Orwell in ourselves -- remembering that these were people of action, not just words.

And we can do it. Because we have it in us. Because it needs to be done.

Take care,
Adrian

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