So...useless

After listening to a fascinating interview with this interesting guy, and going to two talks given by this absolutely fantastic scholar and lawyer I decided to give student activism a chance again. Not that either one explicitly called for it, but I was beginning to feel that even if one can't control events, small differences can accumulate themselves and evolve into significance...perhaps.

However.

Why must student groups be so frustratingly useless? Went to the University's Amnesty International group meeting and was hopelessly depressed by the almost complete lack of competence, leadership, direction, and purpose.

The people were...nice, but are never going to light any fires. And, instead of directing their energies to useful things like local issues that could, MAYBE be altered by their efforts, they organize a letter writing campaign to the president of Indonesia demanding the release of political prisoners.

He. Doesn't. Care.

And, instead of organizing some silly event where there will be bands and a poetry slam, why not try to organize an event to donate resources to Victims of Torture, provide publicity for the (locally) growing problem in human trafficking, or work on decreasing the number of prostitutes that are minors. There are so many local issues that could be addressed. Instead, they show a movie about Abu Ghraib. Perhaps that wasn't a bad idea. I was stunned when some people at the meeting had to have what Abu Ghraib was explained to them.

It is needless to say that I will not be doing anything with or for them. My spirit for activism can't survive another such blow.

However, I have been exploring the idea of a group/organization I would like to put together. It wouldn't be an activist group (I'm afraid I have neither the will nor the time to do justice to such an effort), but I hope that it would make the world a little better place. At least more interesting. I will give you more when I see it materializing.