History continuously proves true the old saying that the biggest regrets are over what was not done rather than what was done. For instance, authors of Soviet memoirs often try to justify to themselves and the rest of the world why they sat idly by and did nothing while Joseph Stalin committed mass atrocities against the Soviet population.
In our own country, the great leader and thinker Thomas Jefferson forever tarnished his image because of his complacency and participation in slavery.
Over the past school year, we have witnessed many events that will go down in history—some of which future generations will hold us accountable for. Our children may ask us, ""Where were you when the gay marriage ban was passed?"" or ""What did you do about global warming?""
Perhaps a harder answer for us to justify than ""I voted for the ban,"" or ""I drove an SUV,"" will be ""I did nothing.""
It will be difficult to explain why we stood idly by as oppression ravaged a group of people and the earth was put in peril by our consumerism. Excusing ourselves as being too busy or uninformed to do anything will seem paltry and pathetic.
Instead, we will want to be able to proudly say we took some action, or at the very least had compassion, for the cause. We want to say: ""I cared, I worried. Though I couldn't do much about it, no one could ever be in doubt of where I stood.""
Though it may seem insignificant to merely care about an important issue instead of taking action, compassion can be a powerful tool in combating the seemingly insurmountable problems of the world. During his recent visit to Madison, the Dalai Lama reminded us of this essential fact. He spoke to the power that a desire for world peace has to change society.
So perhaps we cannot all join the Peace Corps or work in relief camps with victims of the genocide in Sudan, but we can write letters to Congress demanding action. Or we could merely discuss world issues, strongly standing against genocide and joining, widening and adding momentum to a dialogue. If this dialogue grows large enough, those in power will have no choice but to listen and take action.
But one person cannot be an activist for every cause out there, or even worry about every issue. There certainly are the large, pressing issues, like global warming, that everyone must be concerned about. However, no one can be held accountable for all the other issues the world faces, and if people are held to this standard, they will begin to feel hopeless and do nothing.
So instead of saying, ""I did everything,"" one should try to say, ""I did something."" Whether that something be as small as planting a new tree or as large as joining Teach for America, it does not matter. If everyone did just one small thing, we could move toward attaining the world peace envisioned by the Dalai Lama. The last thing we want is to have to write a memoir justifying our idleness to future generations.
On a final note, this is my last column as a weekly opinion columnist. I would like to thank my readers and anyone who took the time to send me an e-mail, and I would also like to extend a large thank you to the staff of The Daily Cardinal, especially my continuously supportive editors Jill and Erik. Everyone have a wonderful summer and a great beyond!
