Poll time

[kellinator]

My mom and I were having this argument last night...

[Poll #114931]


My mom says I'm only one person and I can't change anything, and I have to stop being so passionate or I'll drive myself crazy.

I say if I stop being passionate, I'll lose the best part of me. And I'm already crazy, so it doesn't matter.

Comments

[eudaimonia.livejournal.com]

My answer was a qualified yes. Depending on who that person is that's trying to make a difference.

[vidicon.livejournal.com]

I vote(d) yes, but that's not to say it won't kill you, sooner or later, if you try it.

[tikimama.livejournal.com]

Of course one person can make a difference--Bush, Hitler, Stalin, Hussein, Rosa Parks, Madonna. It's ridiculous to say otherwise. However, one doesn't always know if one is "making a difference" until long after whatever that point was.

[cnfsdyoie.livejournal.com]

MLK jr was just one person and on the flip side, so was hitler. they both made a difference. one person who truly believes in something can change the world kelly. don't let your mom- or anyone else- make you believe otherwise. i like the part of you that wants to change the world. i find it inspiring.

[feachador.livejournal.com]

Wow, I shoulda voted no, just so it wouldn't feel left out...

On the other hand, if you think one person can't make a difference, I refer you to the "starfish" story.

Re:

[kellinator.livejournal.com]

Starfish story?

Love the icon, by the way...

Re:

[kellinator.livejournal.com]

It seems from that list that it's a lot easier to make a difference for the bad than the good...

[feachador.livejournal.com]

A man was walking along the beach one day, and he saw hundreds of starfish had been stranded by the high tide. Farther down the beach, a man was picking the starfish up and tossing them into the ocean.

The first man approached the other and asked what he was doing. "I'm trying to save these starfish," he answered.

"Why?" asked the first man. "You can't possibly make a difference, there's hundreds of them."

As the first man was saying this, the other man reached down, picked up another starfish, and tossed it into the ocean. Then he turned to the first man, looked at him, and said, "Made a difference to that one."

Re:

[kellinator.livejournal.com]

Thanks. I needed to hear that.

[tikimama.livejournal.com]

I suppose, but who can can say what is really, in the end, for the 'good' or 'bad'? The repercussions of our actions echo for so long after the actee is gone--the current situation in the middle east, the result of thousands of years of tensions and religions and economics. Is there one person to blame for it all? No, not really. So it follows that there can be no "one" person to change it all.

In any case, I could have made a list of 'good' people, though I think Madonna is sort of chaotic neutral. Bush et all are on my mind this morning, is all. I could have written Carrie Nation, or Gandhi, or Siddhartha, or Jesus. (religious figures represented in their non-supernatural forms, both since I'm an atheist and to keep things level).

The thing I think is important to remember is, you never know. I mean, Rosa Parks had sat in the back of the bus every day for her entire life. That one day, she didn't feel like it, she didn't, and it set off a whole reaction. Maybe if she's waited until two days later, the same things wouldn't have happened. Maybe other people had already done it, but it hadn't received any press, maybe no one made a fuss.

I think the deal with being passionate and caring is that you just have to. You can't say, well, I'm only going to do this if it has lasting impact. You can't know. I mean, all those kids in the White Rose (a group of college students who protested the Nazis and were executed) didn't really stop the Nazis or bring much attention to the situation. Does that mean that they shouldn't have done it? I don't think so--they did what they thought was right, and showed amazing bravery (more than I would have, I'm sure). Doing the right thing doesn't always mean you'll be rewarded for it. That's not why you do it, you do it because it is the right thing to do, and you are responsible to yourself to live that way.

[mschristine.livejournal.com]

For most people "Making a difference" isn't something that's clear or tangible but each one of us makes a difference every day. Like you tell your freind to quit thier job and they end up starting some great world relief organization, and helping thousands of people. I think people have to think of thier actions making a small difference which lead to a big difference instead of being detrmined to make a big dramatic splash and being disapointed.

[cynical7.livejournal.com]

Ok - seeing that I'm the one person who said no:

I'm going by my own life here which has been in all respects, an utter failure. I'm made fun of, called ugly, told I'm worthless, ostrasized, etc, etc, etc.

But at the same time, I *do* serve the useful purpose of letting people feel better about themselves by merely thinking of my exsistence.

Yes, this is cynical. But this is an honest answer.

In the grand scheme of things...NO ONE makes a difference unless, well...they decide to bomb a country. But on a smaller level, I'm sure they do.

Just in my own PERSONAL experience its always been at my own expense.

[piratejenny.livejournal.com]

She missed that message in Lord of the Rings huh?

Yeah, one person can make a difference. If everyone thought that one person couldn't make a difference, no one would even by trying, and where would that leave us?

[whysoblue.livejournal.com]

I believe that you have no way of knowing what effects will occur because of the smallest of your actions. Ripple effect. Kinda like when Homer Simpson used that time machine.

I think we make a difference all the time - when we're not even trying.

Making a difference

[scarcrest.livejournal.com]

Yes, but it goes both ways. Ghandi made a difference. So did Hitler.

[sophocles.livejournal.com]

Never underestimate the power of one individual life.

[sophocles.livejournal.com]

That having been said it pales in comparison to a large group of misinformed stupid people who surrender their free will to the dominant media culture.

[senchen.livejournal.com]

I had to say a qualified no. What you probably are asking is whether one person can make a difference in the Way of the World or somesuch thing, to which the answer is "no, with the exception of assassination." Assassins are the only ones who work alone to change the flow of time. Ghandi had a movement, Hitler had a movement, even Mother Teresa had a ministry and of course the press to publicize her so that we all know her name. Only the assassin is alone.

That doesn't mean it's impossible for one person to make a small difference, though, and small differences can be huge in microcosm. As per the starfish story. Or an argument I just made in another post; it's sensible to feel that you're not making a difference as a protester, because protesters don't make a difference and they don't know who they would be helping even if they did. But if you make a friend in Iraq, and you send them bottled water and gas masks, fruit and vegetables and hard American dollars, you will KNOW you made a real, appreciated difference for real, specific people.

[kellinator.livejournal.com]

Thanks. I'm going to try to carry through on that in some way.