What I mean by this is that in class, we are taught an almost unrealistic idealism. Marxist ideas are floated around willy-nilly with not even an eyelash batted. Yeah, we'll just fight for a guaranteed income for all and make the rich pay for it! Good idea! Oh yeah, it's totally workable!
Even in our practicums, we're still slightly shielded from reality. While most all of us wade a little bit into the muck, we don't have to worry about cleaning it all up if we screw up. In addition, we're allowed to pursue projects that we would probably have no time for if we actually worked there. There's lots of time to pretend that these things can happen in real life!
So yeah, I'm a bit idealistic. What's slightly scary is that I'm one of the more practical people in my program! Anyways, I can almost guarantee that I'm gonna get caught floating some lofty ideas that aren't gonna happen. It's fun, though. And possibly helpful. It's good to keep a little bit of the radical and idealistic in your life. After all, it's the playfulness that lets you pretend that you're still sane, right?
A while back, I found this list of Simple Radical Actions. You might have seen it, but I'm gonna share it for those who haven't. Because, like, you know, a journey of a thousand miles starts with one step...and because where we need to be is a hell of a lot farther than a thousand miles, we better get a move on!
2 comments:
Nice list. I wouldn't worry about an over-inclination of idealism in the course. Mine was like that too and I think it's good to have the opportunity to work within an idealist model at least for a while.
Practical will come later and you'll be stuck with practical for a long time so the glimpse of idealism needs to fuel the engine for a while in the future!
I'm still incredibly idealistic... and I love it... but one of these days...
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