Blog Response 2

How much power lies in an individual's hands, and by extension, how much responsibility do they have for the well being of others?  Why are there so many wrongs in the world, yet seemingly so little responses?  Chapter 2 of Loeb's Soul of a Citizen dives deeper into one of the apprehensions we have that cause us to remain on the sidelines: ourselves.  It's funny really, half of the time it seems that we overestimate ourselves while the other half is spent in degradation.  You don't need to look very far to see pubescent boys trying to uphold their fragile masculinity attempting to show off their physical prowess, generally to fail and end up on the internet.  On a larger scale certain political figures never stop to push aside blame, to never admit to wrongdoing or ignorance.  Simultaneously, we gawk in awe at those that who can seemingly easily achieve things from mundane bottle flips to starting new companies.  Talk to pretty much any sort of artist; there's always a bigger fish, and your art is the ABSOLUTE WORST.  It must be noted, however,that our attempts to show our pride and to gain that precious peer approval tend to be mere illusions of self value, things to try and convince us that we matter, and that we're important.  So, generally speaking, most people tend to have a low value of self-worth, or at least less than the required value that we think of in people that can change the world.

The entirety of Chapter 2 revolves around this idea about not having to be saints to make a difference.  Part of the problem is simply in how we see our great heroes: partly the fact that we see them as the sole drivers of movements and that viewing them from a historical perspective makes them hard to humanize.  As mentioned previously in the introduction of the book, society tends to place heavy emphasis on "the one".  Ever since humankind began telling stories, we were enthralled by strong individuals that could persevere through every trial and temptation.  Think about how many movies, books, TV shows, video games, any sort of media and how it revolves around a main character.  As such, this has caused a high reliance on wishing for some miraculous individual to come and suddenly solve all your problems.  Look no further than the U.S. presidency: every 4 years hollow promises are made towards the economy, education, foreign relations and every other issue in the nation.  But that's not how the world works, there's not magic switch for one person to suddenly change these things.  That's not even how the government works, with power being divided for a purpose.  Then again, there may be solid reasoning for this belief, and that is simply the fact that our heroes tend to be so distant from us.  It's not as though most American citizens live their life up on capitol hill or had breakfast with Abraham Lincoln.  This sort of distance causes the mystifying of "heroes" and further separates us from the reality that society is built upon and moved by the collective rather than the individual.

Following up about the point about seemingly perfect individuals, Loeb continues with many stories of success, by people that were no means qualified: they were too young, too old, couldn't speak well, had an unworthy cause or were up against impossible odds.  The film Selma connects to this in many ways.  While we see Martin Luther King Jr. as a seemingly unshakable man, the film dives into his personal doubts and fears.  He very much did question his actions, trying to call off march for a day and wondering if he shouldn't have turned around on the second.  King shares his feelings with his wife, who is sick of living in constant fear of death for themselves and their children as well as those close to them.  John Lewis, who was also mentioned by Loeb, was completely inept at public speaking.  Yet, there he was and there he is now, continuing to be someone who changes history.  The most important step is simply to get started.  Loeb argues that even though you may not know everything, you should fight for what you believe in.  In doing so, you may learn much more than you would have without and your stance might even change entirely.  To say it quite simply, nothing is gained if nothing is done.

That does not, however, mean we need to go in blind; the TED talk "The Danger of a Single Story", the NPR podcast on "Rep Sweats" and the article on Obama's reading habits all delve into making oneself more conscious of the world around them.  The first two pieces delve into how being told only a single perspective or view can really distort our view of the world.  Considering how vast the Earth is, there is no doubt that your and I have an incorrect assumption about how everywhere looks.  Within the context of social change, this is really important for a couple of aspects.  Firstly, through stories and reading (like what Obama does), it becomes possible to learn about issues in the world we might not have otherwise seen, or perhaps considered important or just.  Secondly, and perhaps more importantly, it helps us see each other in a clearer light.  In doing so, we might finally see each other as other human beings, as equals.  It doesn't seem like too much of a stretch to say that a fair amount of the division today in America revolves around the single story, or no story at all.  Would you be so willing to block refugees if you knew immigrants, or were one?  Are you only getting a single story of Muslims being extremists who want to topple your society?  How could you decide about abortion if you've never had one, or known somebody that had gone through it (I mean, it's probably not much of a stretch to say that the old men to pass the bill had not experienced abortion in any way)?  Do you know about your neighbors who work in the fields and the factories, and the hardships that they faced in the recent years?  Have you lived not knowing what you might eat the next day, or lived with a seemingly endless amount of wealth?  Are you getting your new and views of the world from only one source?  According to the article, Obama reads books in order to understand the people he served as president, to create laws and policy that would be good for all.  Lacking these viewpoints is what leads to racism, bigotry, hated and quite frankly pretty much every sort of human conflict.  With this in mind, how then can we arm ourselves to be the best people we can possible be?