Comments on: How to reconcile radical sentiments with everyday reality in the West?

By: Graeme

Graeme — Sun, 24 Jan 2010 10:37:25 +0000

As a parent of three twenty-something boys, I thoroughly enjoyed reading your journey Daniel.

You are lucky to have parents of wisdom who understand that youthful idealism is a great basis for a fulfilling life.

An individual cannot change society as a whole but we can all act individually to change important elements of that society.

Best wishes,

Graeme

By: Justin

Justin — Fri, 22 Jan 2010 11:39:53 +0000

Excellent and thoughtful piece of writing. Very eloquent and felt part of the journey from the intellectual environment of your studies to the return home to New York and LA.

I agree that part of being a human is engaging in purposeful action, and it seems you’ve started to do so while critically reflecting on some of the big picture structures impacting on daily life. This seems entirely appropriate for a graduate of the global studies program. I also think part of being a human is the search for inner peace and harmony – however one does that, whether through spiritual reflection, general relaxation through meditation, or just sitting back with a beer watching a game of cricket. It seems a big part of your journey was searching for this inner peace and harmony, and I’m happy the conclusion of the article was about you finding that in Venice rather than being thrown into a depressive rage at all the injustice of the world.

Great article and impressed with these sorts of themes running through.

By: Daniel

Daniel — Fri, 22 Jan 2010 05:09:36 +0000

And I might add, most of the readings I mentioned in my article I did on my own, aside from the program’s reading list. So I don’t want to wrongly portray EMGS as a Master’s program with a radical agenda, because it simply wasn’t that at all.

By: Daniel

Daniel — Fri, 22 Jan 2010 05:02:13 +0000

Thanks for the comment. Yeah, to be honest I was pretty mentally absent at UCSB, I feel like I just floated through undergraduate studies not really paying too much attention to the readings, that I sort of went through the motions with papers, etc etc. I really wish I had payed more attention, I’m realizing after the fact what a special program UCSB’s Global Studies one is. Oh well. I guess at that stage of my life I wasn’t really ready to challenge myself intellectually, as I was when I arrived to London and was immediately submerged into a much more formal academic environment where it was either sink or swim.The thing about think globally act locally is what I was trying to get at with the whole Venice Beach thing, that there are spaces within the larger system that allow for positive human initiative, whether artistic or political, that can make a difference. Much appreciated that you took the time to read and comment thoughtfully.

Daniel

By: meg

meg — Thu, 21 Jan 2010 16:49:37 +0000

But, where were you at UCSB? Mentally absent? I thought the program there was much more ‘radical’ than the Erasmus Mundus Global Studies and focused more on the big picture. The problem with both (EMGS and UCSB global studies) is that they empower us with many insights and critiques on the current global system, but offer no viable alternative. Anyway, good luck with your transition. The only thing that helped with my first US return: Think Globally, Act Locally. I know we’ve heard it hundreds of times before, but what else can we do? Seems like you already got it down 🙂