Blog Entry on Friedman

We have been talking about something similar to this in my Social Work class. Franklin D. Roosevelt had said that public assistance should not be a matter of charity but a matter of justice. I think Obama is saying something similar. He's calling for change in that we look at those who are struggling in a different way and we see that it's our duty to help them. In this light I definitely see myself responding to that change of helping our fellow man by becoming more educated on the developing world. I also learned in my writing class that indifference is worse than hate. Elie Wiesel, a Holocaust survivor, said, "To be indifferent to suffering is what makes the human inhuman." Hate at least elicits a response to suffering in contrast to indifference which is just unfeeling and heartless. I want to be educated on the suffering outside our borders and form an opinion whether good or bad to it. I fully agree with Friedman that we need to encourage others to develop a positive imagination and export hope instead of fear. Not just with developing nations, but even this nation is spiraling our of control and hope and positive imagination is really all we have to get us out of this mess. I think it's important to remember that we're all in this together and together we got into this mess and together we have to get out. Without hope there is nothing. We have to tackle the suffering head on and deal with it, not shy away in fear.