this one is probably too grave for an ironic title...too late!

So Sifu Edge has put forward an interesting question on Kwoon Talk about changing the world. You should go read the whole post, and if you don't know what Kwoon Talk is, I am shocked someone not from Silent River is reading this. How's life in the blogosphere? Is it irrelevant? It sure seems that way.

Basically, she sees a dilemma in how to live her life. Should she work to make the world a better place, or spend her time enjoying her life?

I'm going to be a real jerk and answer that question with an old story, one of my favourites. Those who have read Pirsig (which is many of you) will remember it. The famed zen master Joshu was walking along with a friend of his, who turned and asked "Can a dog attain Buddha-nature [enlightenment]?" Without breaking stride or even looking over, Joshu replied "Mu."

'Mu' is a Japanese term which roughly translates as 'neither yes nor no'. It means that the possible answers do not fit the question. That's exactly what I'm doing here. I'm muing. Mooo.

The way I see it, you work hard, do what you can, then go relax with your friends. People manage to combine work, school, hobbies, families, and friends--why should your outlook change that?

But at first glance it does appear to be a valid question. This is because there is another one implicit in this dilemma: can one really change the world? Or to put it another way: who's problems can be solved, mine or the world's?

It does seem like in order to go along that path, you can never really relax. You should always be thinking of the next issue, you should be too busy protesting to hang out. In all honesty, it can easily be a full time job. I spend a fair chunk of time just trying to stay on top of what's going on in the world, then I have to invest more time into trying to do something about it. That's the depressing part of all this. I could go out tomorrow and eradicate HIV, but there would still be a million other problems plaguing the world. There are so many horrible things occurring at this very second it seems like there is no point. Why bother trying to make a difference when you have all these things going on in your life?

I need to stress again that it doesn't have to hijack your existence. The outlook itself will do wonders, especially if you do your best to exemplify it. Yes, you will be inconvenienced, you will spend more money buying locally grown organic produce (that doesn't mean Planet Organic), no matter how much respect you treat those who disagree with you some will not give that back and that will depress you. All that has happened to me, and more. I spend a lot of my time thinking about problems and trying to help solve them. I belong to several organizations and donate time to some of them. But I still have a life, I still have friends and go on dates (well, not many of those--that's another issue though). Yes, I don't sit on the couch and watch tv or play video games all evening, but that's not something I miss. I do what I do because it's important and it does not come at a sacrifice to who I am.

We will not reach a utopia, ever. Simple as that. More than likely for a long time we will be in a society that necessitates a significant portion of the population to live badly. More than likely blind loyalty will still be masked as a virtue and many people will die for no good reason. Barack Obama, in his excellent speech on race relations, touched on this. He said he realized that one presidential term will not do away with racism, but it doesn't mean one shouldn't try. He said that his nation will never be perfect, but it can be perfected. That's true about the whole world. I know that I'm not able to tear down society and start all over again. I can push it in a good direction though--inch towards not a better future, but a better now.

The power of the individual is what matters, people getting together and deciding they've had enough have caused more drastic change than all the governments in history. We need to realize that we can make a difference, even just for one person. Need an example? Go to Free Rice, a simple vocabulary game that through sponsorship of advertisers donates rice to the UN world food program. Play that for 5 or 10 minutes and someone can eat for a day because of you. You are literally saving people from starving to death. There, that's change. Next time you discuss politics try and get to the heart of real issues, treat everyone with respect and genuinely present your views. Bit by bit a few people will start to care.

We don't need a few people ignoring their lives to sit and worry about the future, making grand statements about how things will be better. We need everyone to do at least a bit to make things better for everyone right now. Don't listen to people pointing at the sunset, listen to those pointing at the ground. Work towards now, helping those in need and challenging apathy. Make it part of your life and you won't have to give up anything for it. If you do that, keep the small victories in mind and help things inch along, more good than you can imagine will happen.