Can an individual make a difference?

Today, a colleague of mine mentioned that she doesn't watch any serious movies at all, except "dumb comedies", you know movies that I call "stupid funny". I asked her why not. She told me there are too many problems in this world, and that "dumb comedies" are one way of forgetting the negatives of this world. Yeah, but is that being a responsible citizen? or is that that we as citizens no longer can make a difference? I am not sure.

All, I know is that if you take care of yourself, and you consciously make an effort to live for the "good", then shouldn't that make some sort of ripple effect of goodness? I mean if your yard looks clean and environment friendly, wouldn't your neighbors want to do the same thing with their yards? At least they tend to want to do the same.

Something, I realized...that an individual DOES make a difference, but sometimes it goes unacknowledged. How did I come to that conclusion? I had made a suggestion on a list serve that I get through email: to read Pedagogy of the Oppressed to understand oppression and conditioning's of oppression. One reader emailed me privately, and asked my opinion of Pedagogy of the Oppressed or Pedagogy of Hope, which one should she read?

I was kind of surprised. I thought my message would be lost in cyber space because you know how list serves work: you get many messages a day. I was wrong. So, I decided that I am going to take great care of my actions and thoughts because I may influence you or someone else.

Comments are welcomed.