I'm sad to be leaving academia soon. I just realized now how wonderful it is to be a student, to be part of this community that actively thinks.
I've also learned to really appreciate the value of institutions, in terms of housing and healthcare, but also in terms of all the added perks and subsidizations. I want to be taken care of in that way, which is why Peace Corps (or any big name) is attractive.
But I didn't have to leave here. If I wanted to travel, there would be research grants to apply for. All I had to was research and think and write and be rigorous about it.
I mean, what better institution to ask for? Academia values truth and knowledge - can you really compare that with, let's say corporation or government?
Anyway, regrets are really lame. All I have to do is make sure I like to learn and be rigorous and I will come back.
***
Last week I went to listen to Jeffrey Sachs (US President of my heart) speak. It was a relief to hear him, after having been jaded for so long over the politicization of human rights.
Peace is not impossible. This is because conflicts are not driven by innate human aggression but by scarcity. And scarcity can be resolved by resource/skill exchanges, innovation and empowerment, plus conservation and sustainable development.
(And it was revealed that Darfur is not a situation of good guys and bad guys but a ecological crisis in disguise. Declining rainfall and a rapidly multiplying population are the culprits. Even 26,000 peacekeeper won't help if they don't have water to drink.)
And all this information was empowering for me because I believe him and now I have somewhere to stand. And it was silly of me, to have let all the politicking and self-righteous do-gooders get in the away of something very basic, like caring about the world.