LIVING FOR SOMETHING GREATER THAN OURSELVES
In “The Moral Obligations of Living In A Democracy”, Cornell West is a modern-day truth teller whose critical commentary of today’s society seems relevant and imperative. His ideas move me personally, as well, they relate to my community work, the mission of my community partner, and the experience of the people I am working with. He sees the “tradition of struggle” as something that is missing but important in society, as it is at the foundation of the fight for “decency and dignity and freedom and democracy” (p.209). Race also deeply matters within the context of this struggle, due to the stereotyping and objectification of people of color in our society, and how that affects the way in which they are treated and defined. In my experience, when people become a problem, they become invisible. West understands that in America, being a person of color is to become “a ‘problem people’ rather than people with problems” (p.209).
My community partner, Parent Services Project, focuses on “families made invisible by race, immigrations status, and/or poverty” by providing them with training and support. This is done through several programs; the one I am involved with focuses on early childhood parent education and child literacy. The goal is to help children succeed in school and beyond, and that by helping build the strengths and skills of the parents, the children, the schools, and the community benefit. PSP’s mission statement takes into consideration this tradition of struggle, by understanding what has worked in the past for all children: that “decades of research demonstrate that parent engagement in their child’s learning (solidly) promotes academic achievement and healthy outcomes.” Family engagement then, as well as social support, becomes paramount. West points out that the roots of democracy “are fundamentally grounded in mutual respect, personal accountability, and social accountability.” With that in mind, we must be dutiful to the needs of the families we work with, to encourage and support them in becoming engaged in their children’s schooling and education, as well as to be accountable to them as a society, by listening and working to provide them with the opportunities necessary for their success. Not only are the families in this community dealing with multiple forms of discrimination (race/color, poverty/socioeconomic status, lack of education, etc.), but as West points out, they are doing it in a country that values a market culture steeped in “gangsterization,” defined in the dictionary as an “unabridged grasp at power, wealth, and status.” I find it interesting that West sees “parenting as a non-market activity” and that the “values around ‘non-market activities’ are “becoming relatively scarce” which he credits as the reason “it is so tough to mobilize and organize people in our society” (p.213), because “it is hard to convince (them) that there are alternative options for which they have to sacrifice (p.213). West deems these as “spiritual causes” and talks about why they are so difficult to take hold of, as they require us to seek “an experience bigger than our individual selves” with the understanding that this is what “binds us to a community” (p.212). We begin to comprehend why “market culture” influence makes it almost impossible to be morally awakened to something that is bigger than us — that, and a sense of the personal loss in remembering our collective historical struggle, which, according to West, is at the root of the problems we have in society today, that keep us from doing what is “right and just and moral” (p.214). In partnering with my community, it is important to value these “spiritual causes” that may in fact show outer reward in very small but meaningful ways, that bind us together through our humanity, as a community.
In “To Hell With Good Intentions”, Illich calls out the hypocrisies that come from the privilege that is inherent in our American society, our ignorance, in terms of our positionality, and the affect this has when we go out into the world as do-gooders with “good intentions.” He suggests we would be better off staying home and spending time fixing the problems that we have in our own country as our “do-gooding in a Mexican village is even less relevant than it would be in a U.S. ghetto” (p.2). He is also saying that true reform cannot take place without cultural humility and a broader understanding of the influences we unconsciously bring into the world. Both Illich and West point out this idea of privilege, conditioning, and complacency. Illich says “You, like the values you carry, are the products of an American society of achievers and consumers….’salesmen’ for a delusive ballet of ideas of democracy, equal opportunity and free enterprise, among people who haven’t the possibility of profiting from these” (p.2). Obviously this can only do harm as there is a huge gap between those who live in poverty and those who live in privilege. Cornell West’s references to “market-culture” speak to this world of affluence and achievement (our American idealism), that these “underdeveloped” societies, which we aim to serve, are seduced by. As Americans who unconsciously pander a very separatist and individualistic perspective, our values ultimately do not work toward serving the greater good.
The readings help me to understand two things: the unconscious/underlying affects on myself and others of a market driven, capitalistic society: and the idea that we must continually work to understand our privilege in American society, so that we can make truly conscious and empathetic choices in the way we live, work, serve, and find value and purpose in our lives and in our communities.
