Yesterday afternoon, emerging from the library, I spotted one of those bumper stickers — some variant on “Be the change you want to see.”<\/p>\n
As a statement, I’ve always put that right up with “My child is an honor student at Pink Floyd Middle School” and “Scuba divers do it deeper.” Or rather, I’ve perceived it as well-meaning, suspiciously idealistic, and pat enough to fit on a sticker, but not a stirring call to action.<\/p>\n
As I started to dismiss it again yesterday, I had a flash of enlightenment. <\/p>\n
Okay, about 15-watt enlightenment, but still. <\/p>\n
As I watched the bright yellow slogan zip past in the street, I realized, “Wait, that’s the whole message, isn’t it?” Live and act according to ideals. The slogan’s usually used in a collectivist, do-gooding way (or so it seems to me), but it’s the very thing we’re always going on about.<\/p>\n
I think I’ve dismissed the saying because, in the hands<\/strike> back windows of most people, I perceive “Be the change” not only as shallow or meaningless, but as predominantly other-directed despite its advocacy of individual change: “Behave well, and hope other people behave well, and if they do, we’ll have a different world.”<\/p>\n
There’s an element of that in living free, too. I sure hear a lot of freedomistas wanting to pass forward not only certain values, but certain skills, traditions, and habits to new generations. And now we’re hearing more frequently about freedom communities, formal or informal.<\/p>\n
But when it comes to freedom, “being the change” is sufficient even if we stand alone — collectivist world-changing idealism aside. By practicing freedom, we “get good” at it in ways that benefit us and those around us. And it makes us better people and better neighbors even if our efforts are imperfect, as in this unfree world they so often are.<\/p>\n
—–<\/p>\n
Have you seen the movie Hacksaw Ridge<\/em><\/a>? It’s about one of those rare birds who just will not compromise and will not back down on a basic principle, and who because of his sheer, bloody-minded, ever-patient, rock-solid belief does amazing deeds.<\/p>\n