Thursday, April 30, 2009
As we look back at the first hundred days of Barack Obama’s administration, I am reminded of a short conversation in one of my classes. It got me thinking about the links between Ghandi, Obama and class attendance.
At this University, as at most schools around the country, many students who voted in November entered the polling booth intent on helping bring about “change.” Despite the delirious delight shown by so many on election night, the electoral result was hardly a surprise.
And now, in the initial months of Obama’s administration, policy is being set. Change and legacy now meet, sometimes clashing, other times intertwining. A series of Cabinet posts filled by Democratic hands from the Clinton years and a collection of new initiatives seek to resuscitate the economy by infusing funds borrowed from the future. A softened approach toward Iran and a firm stand against piracy are likewise part of the administration’s efforts to turn a page in foreign relations and retain America’s position of strength on the international scene. Time will tell what implications Washington’s efforts at change can bring.
But change does not have to be driven by government or society alone.
Change can and should come from individuals as well. The student who cheerfully voted for change in November can help enact it in April.
“Be the change you want to see in the world,” said Mahatma Gandhi in an often-quoted statement. It appears in books. It shows up on bumper stickers. I’ve seen it on T-shirts. It’s a profound idea. And I wonder how often it is really considered when it is quoted.
Being that change can include the missionary trips to build houses and the community projects to help the poor that some people go on, revel in, and put proudly on their resumes. As well they should.
But change is more, as well. Being that change is about daily effort, informal acts of decency. When the first George Bush urged Americans to represent “a thousand points of light,” this was the notion. And although it was dismissed at the start of the 1990s, that noble idea can be taken up today.
Skipping class does not bring change. If you want a better world, challenge your mind and your preconceptions with the new ideas that are offered on campus, in the classroom and at university events. Engage your mind. Be the change.
As students, we should be pursuing our studies so we can be that change. The new ideas, the discoveries and the perspectives being examined in our classes are the tools with which to build a new world.
These ideas are important, and when we forsake ideas, we forsake our future.
— Sambaluk is a doctoral student in history.
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