I've been reading over the letters of intent from the kids running for the executive board of NFTY-NEL (the youth group I used to be a member of, and incidentally still devote a considerable amount of time to). Some of the things these kids (read: intelligent young people) have to say are quite inspiring. This one blew me away.
I hope this letter finds you well. I would like to start off by recounting a very traumatic day for me: First I ate a plentiful, calorie-rich meal to commemorate the affliction of my ancestors. My emotions rose as I used my thousand dollar computer and forty-dollars-a-month internet connection to read about the suffering of people who live on less than a quarter a day. My anxiety grew as from my leather couch I witnessed images flickering on my flat screen TV of a world gone mad, with rising gun and gang violence, a growing rich-poor gap, and genocide around the world, tidily presented by the multi-billion dollar news networks. I guess the emotional climax was when I realized the paradox of our time: suffering is just so darn comfortable... In our modern world, awareness is scanning headlines in an internet browser; ‘paying it forward’ means passing along a chain email petition you know nobody will ever read; and taking action equates to buying a mass produced t-shirt that says ‘Bush sucks.’ Comical, clever, and compelling: a triple threat.
Way to go. Step up to the plate and kick some ass.
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