I had the opportunity to meet with a former Peace Corps Volunteer (RPCV) here in Bulgaria a couple of days ago. There were several current volunteers and this RPCV. We got dinner and I really enjoyed this person's company. S/he was intelligent, thoughtful and everything that I expected in a RPCV. S/he now lives in America and has a good DC job with a think tank. S/he was a volunteer near Bobov dol and everyone I've met who has known s/he has had only wonderful things to say about her/him.
One thing s/he said, however, has been nagging at the back of my mind since s/he said it. We were talking about our SPA projects and s/he laughed and said how strange it was to hear current vounteers stuck "in the Peace Corps bubble." S/he went on to say that once you leave Peace Corps and go back to America you realize how your time here was simply time in a little bubble and it was all for naught. S/he seemed to be saying that you shouldn't worry about whether you are being a good volunteer because it won't really matter once you leave country.
What a sad, cynical thing to say. I have had a hard time lately dealing with people's cynicism lately. I am currently reading a book by Pope John Paul II called "Crossing the Threshold of Hope" (a great book by the way...) and he touched on the same idea. He says in a chapter on youth that something in us has changed. Previous generations had an idealism. They dreamed of better things. They experienced a world that was full of strife and pain. They had to fight for a better world. We are the first generation who have not had to fight for what we have. We have all had a pretty good life, comparatively. All of us Western young people were born into a world free from wars. Our great grandparents had WWI. Our grandparents had WWII. Our parents had Vietnam. But us, we've had what? Desert Storm? Iraqi Freedom. Yea, they're "wars" but how much do they really touch our lives, how much do they make us struggle?
Pope John Paul II says that as youth, we still have that fundamental idealism, "even if nowadays it tends to be expressed mostly in the form of criticism, whereas before it would have been translated into duty." I think the Pope hit the nail right on the head (no pun intended...). Here we are, a generation, like all young people, who are born for glory, born to go out and make the world better, born to do our duty as world changers and we encounter a world that's "not so bad." So what do we do? We sit around and criticize and become cynical. We think there is nothing to drive us, no battles to fight and so we tear apart, piece by piece, what exists. We forget that what we have has been paid for us, by the blood, sweat and tears of countless generations before us.
I think this RPCV is a victim of this generational tendency. It is so common for us to sit around and be cynical that we don't see the value in duty. We feel that the easy life has always been around and that we don't owe anyone anything. We don't feel the attraction of living a life of duty. What is wrong with being in a Peace Corps bubble for two years? What is wrong with spending two years exhausting yourself in the idealistic pursuit of "Changing this World?" What is wrong with fighting for progress, a better world? I don't want to pick on this RPCV; s/he did a great job while s/he was here. S/he just happened to make a comment that crystallized all these feelings I've had lately. The problem is more widespread than her/him.
We all need to stand up and see what is going on here. Our innate desire for glory, duty, our fundamental idealism has sat on the shelf too long and turned into a gooey, smelly, raunchy Cynicism. We are afraid to launch into a quest, a life lived for something bigger than us. I say let us relish this bubble! Let us enjoy this amazing chance we have to live in a bubble and work our asses off for something that is hard, at times depressing and for something we may never see the results of. Let us go into that fight and come back bloodied, sweaty and crying. For we can never know how wonderful we can make this world and ourselves until we push ourselves past our breaking point. Thank you RPCV for reminding me of what is inside me and all of us, just waiting to come out and kick some ass...
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2 comments:
Perhaps it's not just our generation. Perhaps cynicism is something all generations must face and choose to battle against it or submit to it. Cynicism is a result of living in a world that is falling apart, full of people who are so far from perfect.
But how do you battle cynicism? Our innate desires for glory, duty, and idealism, while incredibly valuable, can fade as the battles to defend that purity our idealism strives after are lost to the pervasive hate in the world. I believe we must have hope- faith -in something bigger than the task itself.
Do we fight for idealism itself- the practice of living under the influence of whatever it is we consider perfect, beautiful, or excellent? Perhaps we should fight for perfection, beauty, and excellence.
If you fight in battles but don't know what the war concerns, you will quickly lose your motivation.
I can't agree more, that we who criticize should get out and DO something. If there is something to be criticized, then we who are criticizing are wasting valuable energy on hot air when our strength and love is what will make changes.
Andy (and Maegen), being an idealist myself, I can assure you that every act, big or small, makes a difference. Cynics seem to throw up their hands in despair that they can't figure out how to singlehandedly end poverty, destroy all nuclear weapons, and reverse global warming. Idealists switch to energy-efficient lightbulbs, donate time and/or money to causes, and vote. I suspect that, if the RPCV in question had a job in which s/he actually DID something instead of tossing around ideas in a "think tank," s/he might find him/herself in an ever-expanding bubble of influence.
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