First They Came . . .

The quote from Carl Schurz, in Ms. Somers' last post, reminded me of this poem:



First They Came . . .



When the Nazis came for the communists,

I remained silent;

I was not a communist.


When they locked up the social democrats,

I remained silent;

I was not a social democrat.


When they came for the trade unionists,

I did not speak out;

I was not a trade unionist.



When they came for the Jews,

I remained silent;

I was not a Jew.



When they came for me,

there was no one left to speak out.



Pastor Martin Niemöller



What connections can you make between the two texts that deepen our understanding of being agents of social change?

Equality of Rights

From the equality of rights springs identity of our highest interests; you cannot subvert your neighbor's rights without striking a dangerous blow at your own. Carl Schurz

What does this quote mean and how does it affect the life choices people make individually, as a group and as a society?

The Causes of Inequality

I have enjoyed reading the comments so far. One common idea is that we can be agents of social change through charity (collecting and giving money). I think that this can be true - the school in Sri Lanka that we are helping to build will change the society in the community where it is built.
I think that there is also a deeper form of social change that is built on thinking and talking about the causes of inequality. Inequality is about things not being equal - for example, some people being very poor and others being very rich.

Questions like this are a starting point:

• Why are some people, communities, countries poorer than others?
• How can inequality be reduced?
• Who has the power to change the causes of inequality?
• What can we do about the causes of inequality?
• What does history teach us?

I would be very interested to read your ideas on this.