I feel kind of like a phony. Or very confused at the least. I personally value finding balanced arguments and trying to understand how different people and actors view situations, but that has been throughly challenged this week, because as usual, I am realizing how I am truly at an elite institution, despite wherever I may feel that my sentiments lie.
I spent a good deal of this week trying to get hired for an internship with Corporate Accountability International. They do a lot of really interesting work, pressuring corporations and trying to create change through various campaigns, currently focused around the water, food and tobacco industries. I loved the office and the staff seemed like awesome people, but some things made me uncomfortable. For instance,as I think I've mentioned before, Tufts, for all its liberal bias and talk of active citizenship and social change, doesn't usually like to expose us to a ton of anti-market thinking. I've been exposed to the idea that you need to frame an argument subtly. So I'm not entirely sure that I can truly reject things like water market privatization wholesale. Water is a human right, but is it better for water to be mismanaged by a corrupt government or a profit making apparatus?
Cut to part 2: At the last minute, I ended up hosting people for an event the Institute for Global Leadership is putting on, without really knowing what I was getting into. Turns out the conference, on social enterprise is sponsored by the Young Presidents Organization(YPO). Basically, it consists of children of global elites(ie presidents of companies) networking at an expensive conference. So, I currently have a member of the Guatemalan oligarchy sleeping on my couch, along with another slightly less exotic member of the American elite. I met two other kids last night as well. You may know that I am involved with an organization called BUILD that works with former guerrilla combatants in Guatemala, who fought a 36 year civil war, essentially against the concentration of wealth and power that aforementioned individual literally represents. Even more ironic, we spent a BUILD meeting today talking about agriculture, land markets and Mayan struggles for economic recognition. What frustrates me the most is that I want so desperately to talk about these issues, but it is impossible for me to feel comfortable doing so without knowing someone very well. However, if I've become convinced of anything while I've been in college, its that in order for social change to be lasting, there needs to be a recognition and a commitment on the part of elites to see the injustices and inefficiencies that inequality generates. Maybe the speakers they're being exposed to in the conference are the first step towards that change, but I'm not entirely convinced. From a more abstract perspective, these kinds of linkages fascinate me, sociologically speaking. No longer do we simply have national elites, but the emerging global elite and their increased sense of interconnection fascinates me. Oh, and its totally weird to be chilling with kids who don't think much about money when I am trying to figure out how to magically fund unpaid internships. Also, sorry for using the word elites a thousand times: too many political science courses.
In other interesting news, this weekend was the Tufts Energy Conference, which interestingly enough involved me going to a cocktail party to schmooze with people and going to a workshop sponsored by BP (yes, that BP, aka the ASSHOLES WHO DESTROYED THE GULF OF MEXICO) as a favor to a friend. Was my presence in the room a tacit approval? Should I have boycotted? Protested? Would that ultimately have made any sort of difference???
I am challenged by the realization that despite the feeling that I am separated from these "real"/"wealthy" people, that my current reality is what it is because of my ties to them. Almost every good I consume traces back to some corporation. My parent's salary. My education. The media I consume. We can raise a voice against injustices, but we also perpetuate them by virtue of existing in the modern world. This gives us power, but also renders us hypocritical from the very second we open our mouths.
On a lighter note, I realized that in this last week, I've been wearing professional looking clothes as much as I haven't been. Not sure how I feel about that. Like always, my identity is in flux, trying to figure out what the best way for me to just live my life is.
Emily,
ReplyDeleteSometimes the only access to change is to obtain a voice, and sometimes you have to buy shares in the company, to obtain that voice. That doesn't mean that you agree with all that that company stands for because you are a stock-holder. What is really important is that you maintain your integrity during the change process/ and/or attempt at change. Values do matter- keep the faith! Padre