Reply #18: what can one person do? reminded me of this essay

[hfojvt]

"Since my novel Ishmael appeared in 1992, I've received well over five thousand letters from readers---many of them young people. When they write to me, they don't say, "Why have I been taught that individually I'm helpless?" This teaching is revealed in a more subtle way. They say to me, "Since I'm not a world leader and don't control a multi-national corporation or a big NGO, I'm looking for a career that will enable me to make a difference. I'm thinking of going into environmental engineering or something like that. Can you make a suggestion?" Now, until you think about it, this might sound like someone who's on the right track here. But listen to what he's really saying. Environmental engineers can make a difference---but not electrical engineers. Environmental engineers can make a difference---but not optometrists. Environmental engineers can make a difference---but not English teachers. Environmental engineers can make a difference---but not bus drivers. Environmental engineers can make a difference---but not homemakers."

http://www.ishmael.com/Education/Writings/littletrain.shtml

I think of ripples though, because I had the hobby of throwing snow in a river. The snowplow would leave large chunks of ice and I would toss one over a bridge to see if I could break the ice of the frozen river, or just to see it make a big splash. I thought of how our lives are like that though. A splash and some ripples, but the river of history rolls on pretty much undisturbed. Maybe it depends on how many people 'catch the wave'.