Do I make a differnce in this world?

Today I have been to the cinema and watched ”Baader-Meinhof Complex”, a story about German terrorists who created the RAF. They killed and where killed, took hostages, robbed banks, organized several bomb attacks and had major media appearances whenever they caused trouble. I am a pacifist, which means that I do not support any action connected to violence. Still, movies like this one make me think about the thin line of opposition behavior. I understand their rage, even though I do not support their actions.

One of the things that impresses me is the fact that the RAF had quite a lot of female members who fought equally with men. When I see women in my age, a lot of them are only concerned about their outer appearance and not what is inside their heads. They care about fashion, soap operas and their social connections. Who made out with whom at the last party, how many pages did we have to work through in our last class, and who’s boyfriend has just cheated? I don’t care. Where are the ideals gone women fought for in the last century? Today’s western female takes history’s achievements for granted and rests on the rights that where achieved so long ago. When you look at the election in the USA, people had to chose between a “colored” and a female candidate for the Liberals. The people chose the man, I support Obama, don’t get me wrong, I just want to underline that women have a long way to go. I am disgusted by drunken girls, who barely wear anything and then show off their independence, while they go home with some random boy. I doubt that this is the kind of emancipation I want.

The second thing, I began to think about, are the scenarios these people made about the future: we will live in a police state, media will dictate our lives, we will be animated to consume as much as possible, while the imbalance becomes bigger and bigger, and people in other parts of the world have to receive the consequences of our luxury world. Take a look into our current society. I grew up with stories of my parents and what they did while they were young and at the university. They reflected about their society and discussed alternatives to their way of life. They taught me that young people are the ones to make a difference, with their ideals of a reality they want to live in. This was one of the reasons why I was so eager to enter the university. I got incredibly disappointed of how life as a student looks today. In our Bachelor/ Master system we are forced to study as focused and fast as possible. Instead of an universal education, are we now faced with specialized study lines. We have to get prepared for our working life in which we need to perform and create growth, this is the only goal now. People are not encouraged any longer to reflect on their society, they also do not find the motivation themselves. They are overwhelmed with media everywhere which tells them about what happens in the world and which threats there are. Today it is alternative to use an Apple computer instead of the Microsoft supporters. We show what we are and what we stand for through consuming and there are but little groups who resist against this. I can see the effects of this consuming society on myself: instead of reading a book, I watch TV, I already think about which new mobile I will choose in August and I want to have green sneakers that would fit this one skirt of mine perfectly. I am impressed about the great apartment I will move into in Copenhagen and its super huge plasma TV. In moments like this right now, where I see clear, what I am doing wrong, I regret the above mentioned actions. These are moments where I want to quit everything, move to some crappy apartment in Berlin and write the books I have in my head.

Now you might ask yourself, why I am doing the things I do. Why am I not participating in demonstrations against G8 or chain myself on rail tracks to stop the transport of atomic waste? My problem there is that I cannot really see results, the influence is too little. Instead I am part of AIESEC, whose vision is “peace and fulfillment of humans kind potential”. If we enabled people around the world in every part of society to unfold their potential, I believe we can create peace and a better world. What I do not support with AIESEC are some of the organizations we work with and how we thus compromise our vision. I do not think that companies like Unilever create peace, they create capital. That’s all. They want success and attract people who want success. This success is only reserved for the best, for the privileged and does not support fulfillment of human’s kind potential. And members of AIESEC participate in huge G8 like assemblies of students because they think that this creates more chances for other people. The reason why many companies engage socially is first and foremost their own monetary growth and not because they want to make a difference. And this is why I am skeptical toward all this growth talk I mentioned in my last entry. AIESEC for me has the ideal ground for reflecting about the world we live in and a lot of organizations we corporate with are great. I sometimes ask myself if I am doing the right thing, being a member of AIESEC, but when I meet people that inspire me and support my thoughts, I get reassured. It is up to us what we make out of our experience and mine will be to enable and inspire people to make a difference. I think I have found my way to have this impact: words.

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