Making a difference

Perhaps a starting point should be the recognition that whether we like it or not our attitudes and actions do make a difference. What we do (or don’t do), both individually and collectively, makes a difference. Our attitudes and actions rub off on others and have an effect. If we choose not to act, or not to vote, or not to join whatever organisaation, this has an effect. If we send an email to Avaaz.org or observe Earth Hour (on 27 March) this has an (admittedly miniscule) effect. Steve Biko’s question still seems relevant: do we want to be part of the problem, or part of the solution?’ If we opt for apathy, cynicism, indifference or despair, don’t we become part of the problem? And if we choose to exert ourselves don’t we potentially become part of the solution? Or, if ‘solution’ is too alarming and utopian a word, aren’t we (in however small a way) helping to move us an inch or two in the right direction?
What is ‘the right direction’? Of course, I am assuming that our exertions are directed to making South Africa a less violent, less unjust and less unequal place. Unfortunately, as the much quoted W.B. Yeats once put it, ‘The best lack all conviction, while the worst/ Are full of passionate intensity’.