In class, we discussed the concept of responsibility towards others. This responsibility is both a begging and a demand from the other from us. Unfortunately in present day, we seem to have deemed to begin questioning the concept of helping others. There is a fear to step of out of our bounds to help others. We fear the extent of which we can no longer keep giving the support or keep providing the help on a consistent level. And because of this we seem to have blamed everything on the process. The government isn’t doing much and because of this I cannot choose to do anything. It is very much like my mindset that I do not choose to vote simply because I think that the system will simply be cheated. That my one vote will not matter nor will it count.
In terms of this class, I have realized it was the self simply refusing to leave its comfort zone. It’s very much like the concept of love. If we do not choose to risk, we cannot have anything to receive. High risk high return, low risk low return. Right now, I believe it is a question of leaving the il ya. We do not choose to stand out and therefore we choose to stand by the sides and not do anything. We can give and it can hurt, but it is simply painful because we still choose to expect. As ideal as it may sound, I think at some point we cannot choose to expect anything in return. It sounds very Ignatian, but in the development field it applies very much. The development field doesn’t provide much return for the self but rather for others. You constantly work in communities who refuse to listen and revert back to its old issues. At some level, you just choose to give up because the NGO’s themselves choose to fight with each other rather than help each other along.
As mentioned earlier, higher risk higher return. You cannot choose to provide a little of something and expect a lot and for that matter should be expecting nothing at all. I believe this is the take home lesson of responsibility and what it truly means to be one for the other and to be the other for the other.
